Crucial extra-base hits push SU past UNC 7-5
Syracuse relied on four doubles to defeat UNC Friday. It's the most extra-base hits the Orange have tallied in an ACC game this year. Stella Bellman | Contributing Photographer
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Syracuse isn’t a power-hitting softball team. The Orange entered this weekend’s three-game series with North Carolina ranked second-to-last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in home runs (13) and extra-base hits (52).
Much of SU’s identity has revolved around small-ball; bunting, moving runners, stealing bases and manufacturing runs in any way possible. It’s a formula that’s helped Syracuse outsmart inferior squads. But in conference play, it’s failed to generate any formidable offense: the Orange had scored just one run per game and hadn’t scored over three runs in a single ACC contest entering Friday. It contributed to an abysmal 1-8 start in the ACC.
“We’re trying to hit home runs and we’re not a home-run-hitting team,” SU pitcher and designated hitter Madison Knight said following the Orange’s 15-0 crushing against Clemson Sunday. “If we can get a longball we get a longball, but I think it’s just going back to the drawing board and knowing what we’re good at.”
On Friday, though, SU relied on jolts of power to lead to its second ACC win of the season. Syracuse (21-11, 2-8 ACC) came back from down four to defeat North Carolina (26-9, 6-4 ACC) 7-5. Despite tallying just one extra-base hit across three games last weekend, the Orange knocked four extra-base hits to rebound against the Tar Heels.
“(The offense) is a lot of dinks and dunks, getting on base and putting a lot of pressure on,” Knight said. “I think that a double here and there can offset a defense and offset a pitcher.”
SU didn’t tally a hit in the first two innings, and gave up a run in the second before conceding a three-spot in the top of the third. In previous ACC contests, a four-run deficit early on typically indicated the Orange were down for the count. But Syracuse found an offensive spark in the bottom of the third.
Tessa Galipeau led off the frame with SU’s first hit of the afternoon, pulling a fastball down the right field line and into the corner. She cruised into second with a stand-up double to give the Orange their second extra-base knock in their last four ACC games.
Gabby Lantier followed it up by slicing an 0-2 heater into left-center to score pinch runner Sophia Taliaferro and inch SU closer. Lantier evaded the tag in a close play at second, securing Syracuse’s second extra-base hit of the afternoon.
With runners in scoring position early in the frame, the Orange took advantage and tacked on two additional runs on back-to-back singles. They trailed 4-3 after three, but had already topped their XBH total from the prior weekend’s series with Clemson.
“Being able to have quality at bats, having our slappers get on, then having our power hitters just hit a hard ground ball up the middle,” Knight said. “Knowing that we can win with just singles and getting a double that clears the bases does us good.”
Down a run entering the bottom of the fourth, Syracuse relied on situational hitting to narrow the gap. After a one-out single by Kelly Breen, Galipeau tagged a double to center field to shift two runners into scoring position. A bunt single from Jadyn Burney brough pinch hitter Kaimi Tulua to the dish with the bases loaded.
On a two-strike pitch, Tulua blasted a fly ball to center field. UNC center fielder Sanaa Thompson raced back to the warning track but couldn’t make a leaping grab. The ball bounced off the face of the wall, scoring Breen and Galipeau to put the Orange up 5-4.
SU’s fourth double of the afternoon set the Orange up with two runners in scoring position with one out, and they took advantage. Two singles from Angie Ramos and Madelyn Lopez added some extra insurance for Syracuse. It carried its lead to the finish line for its second conference win of the year.
“We easily could’ve deflated, but we had a little life in us and had a little fight to come back and win the game,” Knight said.
It’s the kind of fight Syracuse has lacked throughout conference play thus far. The Orange haven’t consistently knocked hits, got on base and generated runs off of the top pitchers in the ACC. And when SU can’t get runners on base, the small-ball style of offense it’s grown accustomed to simply isn’t sustainable.
On Friday, though, Syracuse consistently got baserunners aboard. Its four doubles, which directly contributed to four of SU’s seven runs, offered a glimpse of how a little power at the plate can make a big difference. When the Orange find that spark, they can take down top-tier ACC teams.
