Jala Wright sets Duke softball program record with 17 strikeouts in a single game

Wright, the ACC Pitcher of the Year, set a single-game school record when she fanned 17 Boston College batters in a single game on Thursday.

Sophomore infielder Aminah Vega got the hero moment on Thursday with her two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th against Boston College, but senior pitcher Jala Wright set her up.

The Eagles and the Blue Devils remained locked in a 0-0 tie for the first nine innings largely due to Wright’s prowess in the circle. Across 10 innings of work and 38 batters faced on Thursday, the senior ace struck out 17 batters.

The newly crowned ACC Pitcher of the Year struck out the side in the second inning, and she nabbed two Eagles in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Wright really turned it on when the game extended into extras, retiring five out of six batters by strikeout in the eighth and ninth innings.

The performance, a single-game school record, is the third time Wright struck out at least 14 batters in a game this season. She retired 14 batters via strikeout against Michigan State in February and against Virginia in April.