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Gisele Tapia grounded softly to Tessa Galipeau, who moved a few steps to her right and touched the first base bag for the final out of the seventh inning. Pitcher Kaia Oliver jumped in the air, flung her glove to the sky and embraced catcher Jude Padilla. Players on the field and in the dugout rushed toward Oliver. “Levels” by Avicii played over the PA system.

For a Syracuse team that sits at 4-14 in conference play, there was reason to celebrate. It was the Orange’s first win over a ranked opponent since beating then-No. 13 Clemson last May. SU (21-19, 4-14 Atlantic Coast) knocked off No. 11 Duke (35-7, 15-3) 1-0 on Saturday, shutting out the Blue Devils’ offense — the ACC’s best — in the process.

Despite recording only three hits, the Orange escaped several jams to preserve the 1-0 lead they had gained after a third-inning Angel Jasso RBI single. After leaving 12 runners on base on Friday, the Blue Devils stranded the bases loaded in the second inning and left runners on second and third in the fifth and sixth innings.

The Orange are currently in second-to-last place in the ACC and had lost seven consecutive games against Duke, the reigning conference champions. It was also Syracuse’s first shutout against a ranked opponent since a 1-0 win in the 2012 NCAA Regionals against No. 2 Arizona State.

“It was super exciting, everyone was cheering,” Paris Woods said postgame. “But we were just cheering, everyone smiling — it was just a great feeling. We haven’t honestly had that feeling since last year when we beat Clemson. It was very similar.”

For the second consecutive day, Syracuse started with Ariana Adams before moving to Lindsey Hendrix and eventually, Kaia Oliver out of the bullpen. Adams started the game by retiring the Blue Devils in order in the first frame on just seven pitches.

In the second inning, Kristina Foreman led off the frame by ripping a single to left. After an Ana Gold walk and a Claire Davidson flyout, pitching coach Sydney O’Hara made a visit to the pitcher’s circle. Francesca Frelick dropped down a bunt that died right in between the plate and the mound, loading the bases with just one out.

On Friday, Adams was replaced by Hendrix with two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, but this time she stayed in the game and was able to work out of the jam. She tossed a ground ball back to home for a force out and then induced a Kamryn Jackson groundout to first to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Woods hit a one-out comebacker off Duke pitcher Jala Wright for Syracuse’s first hit of the afternoon. Woods advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Angel Jasso grounded a ball up the middle that Wright couldn’t quite reach. It deflected off of Foreman’s glove at second base and Woods sped around to score, sliding into home plate just before the throw. For the first time in two days, SU held a lead over the Blue Devils.

With only four ACC wins, Syracuse is in danger of missing the ACC Tournament for the second time since joining the conference — the Orange are currently the conference’s 12th seed and only the top 10 seeds make the tournament. But in addition to Saturday’s win over Duke, Syracuse beat NC State (currently ninth in the ACC) in early March and won twice against Pittsburgh, the only team lower than it in the conference standings.

The Orange only amassed four baserunners to Duke’s 10 but made the most of their opportunities, and behind the strong pitching, stymied the Blue Devils at key moments to get the win.

“We can really build off that. We can hang with anybody. I mean, number 11 team, we just showed we can hang with them, we can beat them. So we should just build off that,” Woods said.

Published on April 23, 2022 at 7:07 pm

Contact Connor: cpignate@syr.edu