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What a difference a year makes.

In 2025, Syracuse cruised to a program-best 11-0 start behind the second-best earned run average in the country and timely hitting. With a 16-3 record entering Atlantic Coast Conference play, SU was hell-bent on snapping its 13-year NCAA Tournament drought.

Syracuse stumbled down the stretch and didn’t make the tournament, but its start was far better than what’s transpired this season. From eight game cancellations to three double-digit run losses, 2026 hasn’t been kind to SU thus far. Whenever the Orange have had the opportunity to build momentum after a win or rebound after a loss, a cancellation has ensued.

Friday’s ACC opener against No. 10 Florida State wasn’t cancelled, but rather called early due to a mercy rule. Syracuse was dismantled 12-1, surrendering seven fourth-inning runs en route to a lopsided loss that revealed how far SU is from competing with the conference’s blue bloods.

With no cancellation or delay to worry about Saturday, would the Orange show fight and even pull off a stunning win?

They wouldn’t come close. Syracuse (11-9, 0-2 ACC) was mercied for the second straight game, falling 13-1 to Florida State (24-4, 2-0 ACC) and barely avoiding a shutout. SU starting pitcher Madison Knight was rocked for seven runs, and its offense mustered just two hits. The loss was Syracuse’s fourth by 10 or more runs this season.

Knight has been Syracuse’s backbone since her freshman year in 2023. Though she’s mashed 20 home runs and provided value at the plate, her pitching has been almost more impressive, as evidenced by her 113 strikeouts and 3.45 ERA in 2025.

But this year has been a vastly different story. The Maryland native entered Saturday with a career-high 4.01 ERA, allowing 10 runs vs then-No. 14 South Carolina on Feb. 6 and six against Ohio State on Feb. 15.

After Syracuse stranded a runner in the top of the inning, Florida State’s potent offense immediately pounced on Knight in the bottom of the first. Isa Torres, who entered Saturday with an absurd .627 batting average, blasted a leadoff home run to get the Seminoles on the board. It was Torres’ 12th straight plate appearance reaching base, and FSU wouldn’t stop there.

With Jaysoni Beachum on third base and two outs, Kennedy Harp grounded out but scored Beachum to make it 2-0 Florida State. Knight eventually escaped the inning, allowing just two runs, but poor command and solid patience from FSU forced her to throw 27 pitches.

Seminoles starting pitcher Ashtyn Danley made quick work of Syracuse all afternoon, but especially in the second inning. SU didn’t record a baserunner as Lauren Fox struck out looking, Grace Weaver popped out and Kaylee Eubanks grounded out. Danley struggled in her most recent outing against Coastal Carolina on March 8 but rebounded in style Saturday.

Everything unraveled in the bottom of the inning.

Miscommunications. Walks. Throwing errors. A semi-competitive game turned into a full-blown massacre.

Up 2-0, Florida State had the bases loaded and nobody out – an opposing pitcher’s worst nightmare. Hayley Griggs hit a sacrifice fly to score Shelby McKenzie before Beachum walked and scored Marin Heller to extend the Seminoles’ lead to 4-0. A Bella Ruggiero sacrifice made it 5-0, and it was looking eerily similar to Friday.

Sure, it wasn’t Knight’s best day on the mound. Far from it. But she had a golden opportunity to get out of a second-inning jam with two outs when Harp hit a routine groundout to shortstop.

Instead, Rose Cano airmailed a throw over Vanessa Flores’s head at first base, and Florida State scored two more runs to make it 7-0. The throw was a microcosm of SU’s entire day – one filled with mental lapses and poor communication.

Since Knight’s afternoon didn’t go swimmingly, perhaps a pitching change would give the Orange some life. Wrong. When Cano entered the game in the bottom of the third, her greeting was a McKenzie homer, also the sophomore’s first hit since Feb. 25, to extend FSU’s lead to eight.

Almost as worrisome as its pitching shortcomings was Syracuse’s plate discipline and offensive approach. From swinging at pitches well out of the strike zone to making weak contact, SU’s responses to Florida State’s offensive barrage were pitiful.

Its pitching has been far from consistent, but a woeful offense has also plagued Syracuse to start the season. The Orange’s .245 average entering Saturday was the ACC’s worst, while their 119 hits also ranked last.

Unlike Syracuse, the Seminoles put together lengthy at-bats Saturday due to excellent plate discipline. They added to their rout in the fourth inning, as McKenzie laced a double into right field to score Harp to make it a 9-0 game. Before SU even recorded its second out, Heller doubled down the left field line to score two more.

Down 13-0 entering the fifth inning, SU needed six runs to avoid being mercied again. While Kendall Gaunt’s homer prevented a shutout, FSU’s Makenna Reid induced a Gabby Lantier groundout to end the game.

It’d be foolish to think Syracuse would win a series against a top-10 team in the entire country, especially since it beat just one ranked opponent in Duke last season. But not even being competitive and getting outscored 25-2 across two games shows these two teams are in different stratospheres.

Published on March 14, 2026 at 7:43 pm
Contact Spencer: sabrod@syr.edu | @spencerbrod20