Duke softball obliterates North Dakota State behind record-setting offensive performance

The Blue Devils hit three separate grand slams on Wednesday night, including two in the first inning, of what became an 18-0 rout.

Duke softball won its fourth consecutive game on Wednesday night, and this one was unequivocally the most impressive of the young season.

The No. 10 Blue Devils scored 11 runs in the first inning against North Dakota State en route to an 18-0 blowout in just five innings. The offensive masterclass was powered by three different grand slams, including two by junior Ana Gold.

Gold, who set a program record with 19 home runs last season and tied Duke’s single-season record with 56 RBIs, came into Wednesday’s game against the Bison with four runs batted in through four games. She tripled that total with just two swings.

After Blue Devils pitcher Dani Drogemuller allowed just one hit in the opening inning, sophomore D’Auna Jennings and Gold led off the bottom of the first with a pair of singles. The Duke lineup proceeded to make its entire way through the order without a single out, including RBI singles from Jada Baker and Gisele Tapia and a grand slam from Kelly Torres.

When Gold’s second at-bat of the opening inning came around, there still wasn’t an out on the board and Duke had seven runs on the board and loaded bases. Not to be outdone by Torres, Gold launched a rocket over the centerfield wall.

The four-run shot gave Duke an 11-0 lead and gave Gold her 100th RBI in a Blue Devils uniform in the early stages of her third season.

After a three-run home run in the bottom of the second from Aminah Vega made the lead 14, Gold came up with the bases loaded again in the bottom of the third. Surely she couldn’t do it again, could she?

Gold’s second grand slam gave Duke its last runs of the game, and the lead was 18-0 by the end of the third inning.

The third-year slugger finished with three hits and eight RBIs for the game, the latter of which marked a single-game program record. She also reached another personal milestone with the second home run, which was her 100th run scored as a Blue Devil.

Even aside from Gold’s record-setting day, Vega and Torres both finished with four RBIs and the Blue Devils recorded 16 hits and five strikeouts as a team in just 29 at-bats.

Duke’s pitchers may not be able to match three grand slams on the wow factor, but they were arguably as impressive. Drogemuller, Lillie Walker, and Cassidy Curd combined for two hits and six strikeouts in five innings, and the Bison never got more than one runner aboard in any inning.

The Blue Devils, who began the week as a consensus top-10 team in the country, get just one day of rest before a Friday clash with Rutgers to begin the FIU Invitational.