North Carolina shuts out Syracuse 6-0 in series finale
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Madison Knight allowed a one-out single to North Carolina’s Bri Stubbs in the fifth inning. The freshman then walked two Tar Heels in a row, leaving the bases loaded and Skyler Brooks at the dish.
Brooks worked a 3-1 count, then swung at Knight’s next pitch, chopping a ground ball to Peyton Schemmer at second base. Schemmer tried corralling it with her chest, but the ball bounced to her left, allowing all runners to advance and increasing the UNC lead to 4-0.
In a sloppy performance, Syracuse (14-21-1, 4-12-1 Atlantic Coast) only mustered two baserunners in the rubber match against North Carolina (19-25, 8-9 ACC), falling 6-0. Lilli Backes tossed a complete-game shutout for UNC, where she struck out five and didn’t give up a single walk. It was the 11th time SU has scored zero runs in a matchup this year, which is nearly a third of its games played.
The offense started off promising. Madelyn Lopez hit a liner that ricocheted off Backes, resulting in a leadoff single, but the Orange couldn’t utilize the early baserunner. Tessa Galipeau flew out to center field on the next pitch, followed up by a Kelly Breen pop-up and Angel Jasso striking out swinging at a high, 1-2 pitch from Backes.
In the top of the second, Syracuse went down 1-2-3 as Backes struck out Knight and Laila Alves. Licea led off the bottom half for the Tar Heels by taking a first pitch strike. Hendrix’s next pitch was placed on the outside, and Licea stepped toward the inside batter’s box and unleashed a solo home run to center field, giving UNC its first run of the game.
Hendrix put together clean innings through the remainder of the second and in the third, leading up to a walk-fest in the fourth inning. It started after Hendrix gave up a leadoff triple to North Carolina’s Abby Settlemyre. Syracuse was facing a 1-0 deficit, and with the offense struggling, Hendrix needed to pitch with precise location.
The junior forced a pop-up to Kiersten Licea, then issued back-to-back walks to Lexi Godwin and Destiny Middleton, which loaded the bases. Hendrix then walked Carlie Myrtle for her third consecutive free-pass, and was pulled from the circle in place of Knight. Hendrix tacked on another earned run after Isabela Emerling hit a sacrifice fly. She closed the afternoon with 3.1 innings pitched, three earned runs and took her 12th loss of the season.
The Orange continued to falter at the plate from the second to the fourth inning. In that span, they didn’t get anyone on base, only hitting the ball past the infield one time.
Backes allowed her second hit of the night to begin the fifth inning. Even in the count at 2-2, Knight drove it over Middleton’s head at third base. The ball hit the wall and rolled to the left, and Knight was in at second for a stand-up double.
Taylor Posner laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Knight to third with one out. But the Orange couldn’t get Knight across home after Alves struck out looking and Rebecca Clyde hit a soft flyout into right field. Knight was the second — and last — player to reach base for Syracuse.
