Tag: Aminah Vega

Duke softball tabbed as ACC favorite in preseason coaches poll

The ACC released its preseason softball coaches poll and all-conference teams on Thursday, and the Blue Devils dominated the voting.

The Duke softball program ran away with the ACC last season, only losing four conference games en route to its first Women’s College World Series appearance, and the 2025 preseason voting results seem to trust them to do it again.

The Blue Devils came in No. 1 in the ACC preseason coaches poll released on Thursday, earning 11 out of 15 possible first-place votes. The Florida State Seminoles, with the remaining four votes, still finished 10 points behind Duke in the voting.

The Virginia Tech Hokies, Stanford Cardinal, and Virginia Cavaliers finished out the top five in order. The North Carolina Tar Heels ended up ninth in the voting.

In addition to the coaches poll, the preseason All-ACC team was released. The Blue Devils were well represented with three of the 14 names on the list.

Infielder [autotag]Aminah Vega[/autotag], the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year, joined outfielder [autotag]D’Auna Jennings[/autotag] and pitcher [autotag]Cassidy Curd[/autotag] on the expected all-conference squad.

Vega batted .369 last year with 31 extra-base hits, including 18 doubles and 12 home runs, while Jennings is a career .424 hitter through two seasons. Curd led the team with a 1.31 ERA, allowing just two earned runs in 17.1 innings against Missouri in Duke’s Super Regional victory.

Duke softball lands at No. 8 in Softball America’s preseason top 25

With spring sports around the corner, the Softball America preseason top 25 has been released. In no surprise, Duke starts in the top 10.

The spring semester is underway and, as a result, spring sports are on the way back. Basketball is going strong, but both baseball and softball will join the party soon, and the Duke Blue Devils will be well represented in both.

Softball America released its preseason top 25 on Monday and the Blue Devils, fresh off their first-ever trip to the Women’s College World, landed inside the top 10 at No. 8.

Duke led five ACC teams in the standings, with the Florida State Seminoles next at No. 10. The California Golden Bears (No. 19), Virginia Tech Hokies (No. 22), and Virginia Cavaliers (No. 24) followed suit.

The Florida Gators took the top overall spot in an SEC-dominated poll with the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners in hot pursuit.

The Blue Devils hope to recreate what was a magical season in 2024. Last season, Duke finished 52-9 and 20-4 in conference play to win the ACC. The Blue Devils rode their success all the way to Oklahoma City for the first time in program history.

Ultimately, though, they fell in back-to-back games to the Sooners and Alabama Crimson Tide, ending what was a special season.

Third-year second baseman Aminah Vega will be an early name to watch. The star junior and reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year made Softball America’s Preseason First Team All-American squad just last week after she batted .369 with 18 doubles and 12 home runs. If Duke is to recreate that magic, they’ll do so thanks to strong play from her.

Duke softball adds Claire Davidson, Jala Wright, and Aminah Vega to the stadium wall

Duke’s best softball season featured career years from three Blue Devils, and the All-Americans were immortalized at Duke Softball Stadium on Sunday.

The three biggest pieces from Duke’s historic 2024 season will forever be a part of program history.

The team revealed that Claire Davidson, Jala Wright, and Aminah Vega each got an image of their jersey up on the Duke Softball Stadium wall after they each earned All-American honors last season.

Only four Duke softball players made the wall as All-Americans before this season, but each member of the 2024 trio made both the D1Softball and NFCA All-American squads.

Davidson, a senior right fielder, hit a team-high 18 home runs and set school records with 20 doubles and 67 runs batted in. The sophomore Vega, who played second base, hit 12 home runs, 18 doubles, and 52 RBIs, one of the best offensive seasons in school history aside from Davidson’s campaign.

Wright, a senior pitcher, appeared in 34 of Duke’s 61 games. She struck out 189 batters in 154.1 innings in the circle, and she tossed eight complete games. Wright finished the season with a 19-3 record and a 1.50 ERA.

Each player who earned their way onto the wall brought home some ACC hardware, too. Davidson was named the conference’s Player of the Year while Wright took ACC Pitcher of the Year honors and Vega earned the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award.

Two Duke softball stars named to NFCA All-American First Team

Claire Davidson and Aminah Vega both made the NFCA All-American First Team revealed on Wednesday with a third teammate joining on the Second Team.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association revealed its 2024 softball All-American teams on Wednesday, and two Blue Devils made the First Team.

Claire Davidson, the ACC Player of the Year, earned one of three outfield spots while sophomore Aminah Vega, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, slotted in as the best second baseman in the country.

Duke joined a list of just five programs with multiple players on the top squad. Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia Tech, and Tennessee also produced multiple All-American First Teamers.

Davidson already appeared on D1Softball’s All-American First Team list, and it’s easy to see why. The senior led the Blue Devils in almost every batting category with a batting average of .439 and 18 home runs. She also set school records for doubles (19) and RBIs (67).

Vega, a D1Softball Second Teamer for her part, finished second on the Blue Devils in most offensive categories with 18 doubles, 12 home runs, and 52 RBIs. Her .381 average finished third on the team.

Duke pitcher Jala Wright, who joined Vega on the D1Softball Second Team, earned a Second Team nomination after leading the Blue Devils with a 1.28 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 153.1 innings of work. Across 33 appearances and 26 starts, she sports a 19-2 record with eight complete games.

The Blue Devils take on Oklahoma, the winner of the last three national championships, in the first round of the Women’s College World Series on Thursday.

Three Duke softball players named D1Softball All-Americans

Three Duke Blue Devils, including ACC Player of the Year Claire Davidson, earned D1Softball All-American honors on Tuesday.

D1Softball released its 2024 All-American honorees on Tuesday, and three Duke Blue Devils made the esteemed squad.

Senior right fielder Claire Davidson earned First Team honors while senior pitcher Jala Wright and sophomore second baseman Aminah Vega slotted onto the Second Team.

Davidson led the team with a .439 batting average and set a single-season school record with 67 RBIs. Her 19 doubles also rewrote a program record, and her 18 home runs sit one shy of Ana Gold’s 19 last season.

Vega finished narrowly behind with 18 doubles and 12 home runs, second on the team in both metrics, and she finished with an average of .381.

In the circle, Wright led the team with a 1.28 ERA and a 19-2 record in 33 appearances. She struck out 187 batters in 153.1 innings, going the distance for eight complete games, and opponents batted just .176 against her.

All three players earned conference awards, too. Davidson was named the ACC Player of the Year, Wright won ACC Pitcher of the Year, and Vega took home ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors.

The three landmark campaigns come in the midst of the best season in program history. Duke won the ACC regular-season title and the ACC Tournament, reached 50 wins in a single season for the first time, and booked its first-ever trip to the Women’s College World Series after beating Missouri on Sunday.

The Blue Devils look to keep the momentum going in the first round of the WCWS on Thursday, when they play three-time defending national champion Oklahoma.

Duke softball wins first Super Regional game in school history to sit one win from WCWS

With Friday’s 6-3 win over the Tigers, the Blue Devils are one win away from their first-ever trip to the Women’s College World Series.

For the first time in Duke softball history, the Blue Devils have won a Super Regional game.

After back-to-back Super Regional sweeps at the hands of UCLA and Stanford, Duke defeated Missouri 6-3 on Friday to take a lead in the best-of-three series.

Missouri struck first with one run in the opening inning, but the Blue Devils surged ahead in the second inning. With two outs and one runner aboard in the top of the second, down to her final strike, senior Francesca Frelick launched a go-ahead home run over the wall to give Duke the lead.

The home run sent a message to the Columbia crowd that, despite being the lower seed in the series, Duke wouldn’t go away quietly. The next two batters kept the run going, too. Freshman Amiah Burgess singled and then raced all the way home when sophomore centerfielder D’Auna Jennings tripled into the right-center gap.

Two runs for the Tigers knotted the game again after two innings, but the Missouri offense halted from there. Sophomore star Cassidy Curd waltzed into the circle with two outs in the bottom of the second, forced an out, and then forced a ton more.

She allowed two Missouri base runners in the third, one thanks to an error and another who was hit by a pitch, before three consecutive one-two-three innings in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

Curd ended the afternoon with one walk, no hits, and eight strikeouts in her 5.1 innings on the mound, completely silencing the home team and crowd.

The Blue Devils pushed ahead in the fifth inning when sophomore second baseman Aminah Vega one-hopped a double off the wall for a go-ahead run. Gisele Tapia roped in another run later in that same inning, and Duke earned its last insurance run with a steal from D’Auna Jennings after Ana Gold bought her some time in a pickle.

Duke now needs to win one of the next two games in Columbia to book its first-ever appearance in the Women’s College World Series, the final eight-team bracket for the national title. The Blue Devils are 4-0 so far in the NCAA postseason after they swept through the Durham Regional.

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.

Duke softball coach Marissa Young earns first ACC Coach of the Year award in school history

Duke softball coach Marissa Young, in her eighth year, coached the Blue Devils to a 44-6 record with 20 conference wins and three ACC award-winning players.

For the first time in school history, Duke took home ACC Softball Coach of the Year honors on Wednesday.

Blue Devils coach Marissa Young, in her eighth season in charge of the program, guided Duke to a 44-6 record. Duke won 20 of its 24 conference games, losing only a single series the entire season, and ended the year on a five-game win streak.

Young’s team only lost three times at Duke Softball Stadium, and Duke won 15 of its 17 road games.

The Blue Devils also won their first regular-season conference title and, earlier in the season, reached the No. 1 spot in Softball America’s rankings for the first time in school history.

“Look at God! Won’t He do it under the most difficult circumstances!” Young wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, after the announcement. “My amazing staff, my parents & my team made this possible!

Young also coached three players to conference awards during the 2024 season. Claire Davidson and Jala Wright unanimously won the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Pitcher of the Year honors, respectively, while sophomore second baseman Aminah Vega took home the ACC Defensive Player of the Year trophy.

Duke sophomore Aminah Vega named ACC Defensive Player of the Year

Duke sophomore Aminah Vega led the team with 17 doubles, but she was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday for her work at second base.

Duke second baseman Aminah Vega earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors on Wednesday.

Vega, a sophomore, ended the year with a .982 fielding percentage. She turned nine double plays and, across her 170 chances, only put up three errors for the entire season.

She elevated against ACC opponents, too. The conference’s release announcing the awards credited her with a .990 fielding percentage in ACC play.

Vega also put in work in the batter’s box this season. The sophomore batted .405 with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs this season, all the second-best marks on the team. She led the Blue Devils with 17 doubles, and her 60 hits were tied for the most on the roster.

Vega was one of three Duke players honored during the conference awards. Senior Claire Davidson was named the ACC Player of the Year and senior Jala Wright took home the ACC Pitcher of the Year honors, both winning unanimously.

Blue Devils softball lose first series of the year to Virginia on senior day

The Blue Devils lost back-to-back games for the first time in 2024 after a senior day sweep at the hands of Virginia on Saturday.

For the first time in 2024, the Blue Devils lost a series this weekend.

No. 3 Duke took the Friday game after a 12-inning marathon, an extra-inning walk-off on a bunt by Jada Baker. The series-opening win, powered by 12 scoreless innings in the circle from senior Jala Wright, moved Duke to 39-4 for the year. It was the Blue Devils’ 11th straight conference win, and Duke seemed to be operating at full power.

As the sun rose on Saturday, the final regular-season weekend games at Duke Softball Stadium awaited the Blue Devils. They faced the Cavaliers twice, first at 1 p.m. and again at 3:30 p.m., and lost both games by a single run.

Senior Claire Davidson, in the midst of maybe the greatest offensive season in program history, popped up a sacrifice fly in the third inning of the opening game to give Duke a 1-0 lead. Davidson already set the single-season RBI record during the midweek win over UNC Greensboro, and she finished the weekend with 59 RBIs for the season.

However, Virginia leadoff hitter Jade Hylton blasted a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth to shoot her squad ahead. The Blue Devils could only tack on two more runs in the fifth, more sacrifice flies from Kelly Torres and Davidson, but the final two frames passed in a scoreless draw for the Cavaliers to clinch the upset.

Davidson, Wright, Torres, Francesca Frelick, Lillie Walker, Gisele Tapia, and Sarah Goddard stared down redemption in the final weekend home game of their senior season.

Instead, the Cavaliers tacked on the first three runs of the game. Hylton homered again, raking in two more runs in the top of the third, before an RBI single from left fielder Kelsey Hackett gave UVA the 3-0 lead.

Wright came back into the circle in the middle of the sixth inning and did her part, striking out Virginia’s last five batters to keep the offensive challenge as small as possible.

Sophomore sensation Aminah Vega tripled in the bottom of the sixth, her 27th extra-base hit of the year, to bring home the first run. Two batters later, Tapia brought the second baseman home with a single into left field. All of a sudden, the Blue Devils were within one run of escaping with the series.

Instead, Virginia brought Madison Harris, who surrendered Friday’s fateful run, back into the circle. Harris retired her first batter to end the sixth and started the seventh with back-to-back outs, putting Duke’s back entirely against the wall.

D’Auna Jennings drew a walk to keep hopes alive, putting the tying run on base, but Torres flew out harmlessly to end the rally.

Duke, now 39-6 for the season, does play two more home games to close the regular season this coming week. Gardner-Webb comes to town on Tuesday before a Wednesday battle against Longwood. The Blue Devils end the year with a three-game road series against NC State.