Tag: ACC Softball Championship

Duke star Jala Wright named NCAA Softball Pitcher of the Week

Duke star Jala Wright was named the NCAA Pitcher of the Week after her 17 strikeouts against Boston College in the ACC Quarterfinals.

Duke softball star Jala Wright, the ACC Pitcher of the Year, was named the NCAA Pitcher of the Week on Monday.

Wright threw 13 innings in the circle during Duke’s three-game run through the ACC Tournament. Her shining moment came during the 10-inning quarterfinal marathon against Boston College when she struck out 17 Eagles to hold her opponent scoreless through what amounted to a game and a half.

The strikeouts set a single-game school record, and her dazzling performance helped set the stage for a dramatic walk-off home run from sophomore Aminah Vega.

Wright also tossed three innings against Florida State in the championship game, allowing three runs on four hits but striking out two more Seminoles.

Now sporting an ERA of 1.20 for the season and a 17-1 record, Wright was also named the ACC Pitcher of the Week twice during the regular season. She struck out 166 batters in 134.2 innings in the circle.

Wright and the Blue Devils host South Carolina, Utah, and Morgan State in the Durham Regional, which gets underway on May 17.

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.

Duke softball gets second walk-off win in two days to advance to ACC Championship

The Blue Devils walked off an ACC opponent for the second time in 24 hours on Friday afternoon when a game-saving out from Clemson got overturned.

The Blue Devils are playing for the ACC Softball Championship.

After Thursday’s walk-off home run from sophomore Aminah Vega to defeat Boston College, Duke needed more 10th-inning heroics to get by Clemson in the semifinals.

With the game knotted at three runs apiece and runners on first and second, senior Francesca Frelick lobbed a lazy blooper toward second base. Tigers second baseman Alex Brown dove for the ball and couldn’t come up with it, sending Duke freshman Amiah Burgess around for the winning run.

Clemson shortstop Maddie Moore had sprinted over to help, however, and she quickly grabbed the ball and fired toward home plate to try and keep Duke off the board.

The timing looked like a photo finish, but the umpire pumped his fist to rule Burgess out, ending the 10th inning. The Blue Devils protested the call, however, and upon video replay, the officials determined that Burgess safely got her hand on home plate.

The win advances top-seeded Duke to the conference championship game, where they will play the winner of Florida State and Georgia Tech.

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.

WATCH: Duke softball walks off Boston College with 10th-inning home run in ACC Quarterfinals

Duke remained locked in a scoreless battle with 9-seed Boston College in the ACC Softball Quarterfinals on Thursday until sophomore Aminah Vega strode to the plate.

Duke softball survived an upset alert during the ACC Softball Championship Quarterfinals on Thursday.

Boston College, the ninth seed in the conference, held the top-seeded Blue Devils scoreless in Durham through the entire seven innings of regulation and two additional frames during the conference tournament.

With the game still deadlocked at 0-0 hours after the first pitch, Duke got the winning run to second base with no outs in the bottom of the 10th. Sophomore second baseman Aminah Vega stepped to the plate.

Down to her last strike in a 1-2 count, Vega slashed at a pitch and connected, the sound ricocheting through Duke Softball Stadium. The ball catapulted into the Durham sky before disappearing over the centerfield wall, a game-winning two-run home run.

Vega’s big week continues after she won ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors on Wednesday.

Movement at the top of final regular season NCAA softball poll

NCAA Softball Top 25: Clemson was unranked in the final regular-season Softball America Top 25 poll.

There was a shakeup in the top 10 of the final Softball America regular season Top 25 poll.

While Texas (45-6) stayed at No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week after a series sweep of Texas Tech, Tennessee (40-9) moved up to No. 2 and Oklahoma State (44-9) climbed two spots to No. 3.

The Cowgirls jumped two spots after winning two of three at Oklahoma in Norman over the weekend. The Sooners (46-6) are reigning national champions and had been ranked No. 2 prior to this week.

Clemson was unranked for the fourth straight week in Softball America’s poll ahead of conference tournament action. The Tigers ended their regular season by winning two of three games at Louisville to finish at 33-16 overall and 15-9 in the ACC. They earned the No. 4 seed in the ACC Softball Championship/Tournament.

Duke (44-6, 20-4) was the highest-ranked ACC team at No. 5 after clinching the first ACC regular-season championship in school history over the weekend to secure the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Florida State (41-13) fell five spots to land at No. 16 in Softball America’s poll. Virginia Tech (39-11-1) was the only other ranked ACC school at No. 18.

Clemson will face Virginia in a No. 4 vs. 5 seed matchup Thursday in Durham at Duke Softball Stadium in the ACC Championship/Tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on ACC Network.

Twitter reacts: Clemson softball advances to ACC Championship

Clemson softball is headed to the ACC Championship game and Twitter is excited for the Tigers.

Clemson softball is headed to the ACC Championship game for the second consecutive season after the Tigers took down No. 1 seeded Virginia Tech, 4-1, on Friday.

Clemson shortstop Alia Logoleo led the way offensively in the three-run victory, delivering two solo home runs, the second of which was a bomb to center field. She finished the game batting 2-3 and led the Tigers in hits.

Meanwhile, Clemson pitcher Valerie Cagle had success in the circle, holding the Hokies to four hits in her seven innings pitched and securing the win.

With the victory, Clemson will now play the winner of Florida State and Duke. Clemson was swept by the Seminoles in the regular season and dropped two of its three games against the Blue Devils.

Friday’s victory, however, marks the Tigers’ second ACC Championship game appearance which comes in the first two full seasons in program history.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Clemson’s Tournament victory.

Three homer in No. 5 seed Clemson’s victory over No. 4 Notre Dame

Alia Logoleo, Cammy Pereira and Valerie Cagle all homered to propel No. 5 seed Clemson softball to a 7-3 victory against No. 4 Notre Dame on Thursday afternoon at Vartabedian Field in the quarterfinals of the 2022 ACC Softball Championship. …

Alia Logoleo, Cammy Pereira and Valerie Cagle all homered to propel No. 5 seed Clemson softball to a 7-3 victory against No. 4 Notre Dame on Thursday afternoon at Vartabedian Field in the quarterfinals of the 2022 ACC Softball Championship. Following the win, the Tigers improve to 38-14 on the season as the Fighting Irish drop to 39-10.

Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

The Fighting Irish jumped ahead in the first inning after a runner got on off a bunt with two outs. ACC Player of the Year, Karina Gaskins, drove her 13th home run of the year out of left field to give Notre Dame a 2-0 lead.

The Tigers answered in the top of the second inning after freshman Aby Vieira singled down the left field line and All-ACC Third Team selection Alia Logoleo drove her 12th home run of the season out of center field. After two, the score was even, 2-all.

Clemson’s bats came alive again in the top of the fifth inning as Pereira hit a solo homer out of center to give the Tigers their first lead of the day. The momentum continued to swing in Clemson’s favor as Cagle, who Ansley Houston pinch ran for, and Marissa Guimbarda each reached on a single and a walk, respectively. Vieira tallied her second single of the game to bring home Houston and Guimbarda to make it 5-2 in Clemson’s favor.

Cagle extended the Tigers’ lead in the top of the seventh with a solo home run, and Russ recorded an RBI single with two outs to push Clemson to a 7-2 lead. Notre Dame scored one run in the bottom of the seventh off a throwing error, but Clemson’s defense held strong to capture the 7-3 win.

Sophomore Millie Thompson threw her seventh complete game of the season. She struck out two batters to improve to 13-3 on the year.

Up Next

The No. 5 seed Clemson softball team will face top-seed Virginia Tech in the semifinal game of the 2022 ACC Softball Championship on Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the ACC Network.

–Courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications

Congratulations! You did it! You graduated! Now is the time to preserve your diploma in a custom frame. Here at Clemson Variety & Frame, we build all our frames in-house – from the frame to the mats and etchings to the installation – to guarantee the quality. You worked hard for your degree. Trust us to show your diploma in the best light possible.