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With the bases loaded and one gone in the seventh, Angie Ramos stepped up to the plate for Syracuse, looking to break the 3-3 tie.

On just her fifth hit of the season, she thrashed the ball into the left center field gap, scoring Angel Jasso for the walk-off victory. The Orange came together in a celebratory hug with Ramos in the center of it. Syracuse’s 27 straight losses to No. 14 Florida State had all been erased with one swing of the bat.

“Obviously, there are nerves and emotions up there (at the plate), but I told myself it’s just softball. Balls and strikes. Hit the strikes and not the balls,” Ramos said postgame.

In its doubleheader against No. 14 Florida State (41-12, 19-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), Syracuse (27-22, 8-15 ACC) rallied to upset the Seminoles in game one 4-3 courtesy of Ramos’ walk-off single. The win marked FSU’s first loss to SU in almost two decades. In game two, the Seminoles took the lead early and held on to defeat the Orange 3-2.

Entering Friday’s doubleheader, Florida State boasted the fourth-best scoring offense in the nation. But against Lindsey Hendrix, it got off to an uncharacteristically slow start.

Kaley Mudge led off with a ground ball that was easily taken care of by Makenzie Foster at second base. Jaysoni Beachum — who ranks top-15 in the NCAA in nearly every statistical category — made solid contact with the ball, but it wasn’t enough as Kelly Breen stabbed it at shortstop. Kalei Harding launched a ball into deep left field that glanced off Olivia Pess’s glove in a diving catch attempt, but an ensuing Seminole ground out closed the frame.

Madelyn Lopez roped Ashtyn Danley’s first offering into right field for a base hit. Jasso grounded out, but Lopez shifted over to second on the play. Another ground out sent Madison Knight to the plate for SU. Knight, who has five home runs in Syracuse’s last eight contests, was intentionally walked by the Seminoles for the first of three times on the day. Yet, Laila Morales-Alves was struck out swinging to keep the contest scoreless.

In the second, FSU got back to its hitting ways, but SU got the necessary contributions from its infield to keep the hits from turning into runs. Devyn Flaherty singled, and Jahni Kerr added on with a single of her own. Flaherty rounded second, as Jasso grabbed the ball and lasered it perfectly into Rebecca Clyde’s glove at third for the out.

“I just find a lot of excitement in making really cool plays,” Jasso said postgame. “I’m coming to the end of my time here with Syracuse, so (I do) anything I can to help the team.”

After another quiet inning offensively by the Orange, the Seminoles jumped ahead. Amaya Ross and Mudge put themselves on base with back-to-back singles. Beachum struck out swinging, Ross stole third and Mudge took second. A single from Isa Torres sent the runners home to put the Seminoles up 2-0.

Lopez opened the bottom of the third with a walk, then Jasso singled to left field to put two runners on. Taylor Posner grounded into a fielder’s choice, and the Seminoles chose to throw Jasso out at second, leaving runners on the corners. After Posner stole second, Knight walked. Danley lost control of the last pitch of the at-bat, which gave Lopez just enough time to slide home. A Morales-Alves bunt followed to send Posner home, knotting the game 2-2.

After a pitchers’ duel in the fourth and fifth that saw only two hits between both sides, the Seminoles reclaimed the lead in the sixth. After walking, Kennedy Harp made her way around the diamond by stealing second and third. Morales-Alves threw the ball to third in an attempt to catch her stealing, but the throw sailed over the head of Clyde. Harp trotted home to make it a 3-2 ballgame.

But the Orange wouldn’t go away. With Morales-Alves and Pess on the corners, Clyde slammed a double into the right center field gap to tie up the contest once again. And in the seventh, the Orange broke through to pick up the victory.

Now with all runners aboard, Ramos stepped up to the plate and smacked the ball right down the middle over second base for a walk-off single. For the first time since 2005, the Orange had come out on the winning side of a matchup against the Seminoles. The victory also marked the highest ranked opponent Syracuse had ever defeated.

“We made a point that we can hang with a ranked team in the first game, and that was what was pushing us to try to win in the second game,” Ramos said.

In game two, Knight took over in the circle for SU and kept the Seminoles off the board in the first. In the bottom of the frame, Lopez slammed a double into left center on Mimi Gooden’s second pitch. Knight, who has continued to display her abilities as a two-way player, laced a base hit to left that scored Lopez to put the Orange up 1-0 early.

In the top of the second, the Seminoles exploded for 5 hits to grab a 3-1 lead. From that point on, the Orange spent the remainder of the contest in a pitchers’ duel, attempting to bounce back from their two-run deficit.

But Syracuse started to rally in the seventh inning. Clyde doubled, then Lopez singled to create an opportunity to tie the game. Jasso grounded out to second to score Clyde, with Lopez moving to second. But that was all SU could muster. Posner struck out, and following a Knight intentional walk, Morales-Alves grounded out to end the game.

“We know that some teams come in here (Syracuse) taking us lightly and make it seem like they got it easy, so our plan was just to sit and attack, and that’s what we did,” Jasso said.

Published on May 3, 2024 at 10:16 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu