Duke softball wins second-ever ACC Tournament title with 6-3 win over Florida State

The Blue Devils trailed FSU 3-0 in the middle of the fourth inning of Saturday’s ACC title match, but after back-to-back walk-offs, these heroics were easy.

For the second time in school history, the Duke Blue Devils are ACC Softball Tournament champions after they took down Florida State 6-3 on Saturday.

Duke, the conference’s regular-season champions, needed some heroics just to get to the title game. Sophomore Aminah Vega hit a two-run home run for a walk-off victory over Boston College in the quarterfinals, and freshman Amiah Burgess raced all the way home from second on an infield single to beat Clemson in extra innings during the semifinals.

In the top of the fourth inning of Saturday’s title game, it looked like the Blue Devils’ luck finally ran out. Florida State scored the first two runs of the game on a two-run homer from Kalei Harding, and Michaela Edenfield followed with an RBI double two batters later.

However, Duke immediately answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame. ACC Player of the Year Claire Davidson and Vega singled to get a pair of base runners aboard before junior Ana Gold brought home the former with a sacrifice fly. Catcher Kelly Torres drove home a second run with a single of her own right afterward.

The Blue Devils turned to First Team All-ACC pitcher Cassidy Curd for the final four innings of the game, and she did her job masterfully. After the three runs to start the fourth, she entered the game with a runner on second with no outs. She retired three straight Seminoles, the last two by strikeout, to escape the inning without further damage.

Across her four innings in the circle, Florida State only managed a single baserunner: a two-out walk in the seventh inning. Curd retired 12 of the 13 batters she faced with three strikeouts.

The offense couldn’t pull even in the fifth inning, but the Blue Devils broke the game apart in the sixth. After two walks in the first three at-bats of the inning, Gold struck again with an RBI single to tie the game. FSU decided to walk Torres, which loaded the bases for shortstop Jada Baker.

Baker grounded toward second base, and Florida State’s Devyn Flaherty tried to force the out at home plate but couldn’t place the throw correctly. Burgess, for the second time in two days, broke a 3-3 tie at home plate.

Duke added two more runs later in the inning, a two-run single from Gisele Tapia, to add some insurance. The Seminoles couldn’t add anything in the top of the seventh, yet another perfect inning from Curd cementing the win for the Blue Devils.

The postseason now awaits with Duke trying to clinch its first-ever appearance in the Women’s College World Series.