Tag: Ana Gold

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.

Ana Gold reaches 100 career RBIs in first-inning grand slam on Wednesday

The Blue Devils hit two grand slams in an 11-run first inning on Wednesday night, and junior Ana Gold reached a career milestone with hers.

The Duke softball team came out ready on Wednesday against North Dakota State, and junior slugger Ana Gold reached a career milestone immediately.

The junior infielder hit a grand slam in the opening inning against the Bison, part of an 11-run opening inning for the Blue Devils, and the blast got her to 100 career RBIs.

Gold led the Blue Devils with 19 home runs and 56 RBIs in the 2023 season, setting a program record with the former mark and tying a program record with the latter.

She was named to the First-Team All-ACC team last season, and she was one of four Blue Devils named to the D1Softball’s top 100 players ahead of this season.

Through Duke’s first four games of the season, Gold’s batting average sat at just .200 but her on-base percentage was .429 and she had batted in four runs.

Teammate Kelly Torres hit a grand slam of her own during Duke’s dominant first inning.

Duke softball ends opening tournament with third straight win

The Blue Devils overcame a season-opening loss to Oklahoma comfortably, as a low-scoring 2-0 win over Long Beach State on Saturday meant they left the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge with a 3-1 record.

Duke softball won its third game in two days on Saturday night with a 2-0 victory over Long Beach State in a game that featured just six combined hits.

The Blue Devils swept Iowa State and Nebraska in a doubleheader on Friday behind the power of their bats, but it was the Duke pitching that won them the game against LBSU.

Duke jumped out to an early lead in the opening inning when senior Claire Davidson singled in D’Auna Jennings, a likely result for both offensive stars this weekend. The run was the seventh batted in by Davidson already in the young season, the most on the team over the weekend, and the senior ended the week with a .417 batting average.

Jennings batted .267 for the weekend but absolutely took advantage when she reached base. She ended the weekend with five runs scored, tied for the most on the team.

The lone run ended up being all of the early offense for both teams. Dani Drogemuller got the start in the circle for the Blue Devils and allowed just three baserunners in three innings. (two walks and one hit).

Sophomore Cassidy Curd took over for Drogemuller in the fourth and continued to hold Long Beach State scoreless. Curd needed to work hard to keep that team shutout intact, however, as she delivered a clutch strikeout to end the fourth inning with three runners on base.

Duke found a second run in the top of the fifth courtesy of a sacrifice bunt by Ana Gold, and the Blue Devils defense again came up huge in the fifth inning. With Jala Wright now in the circle and a runner on first base, the Duke infield turned a weak ground ball to second into a double play to end the inning.

The four stranded runners between those two frames turned out to be LBSU’s best chance at pulling even for the evening, and the two quiet innings that followed helped Duke coast to a 2-0 victory.

Drogemuller, Curd, and Wright combined to allow just one hit and six walks against seven strikeouts for the evening. Wright in particular shined during the entire opening tournament, pitching for 10.2 innings and allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out 13 batters.

The Blue Devils take the field again at Duke Softball Stadium on Wednesday for a home game against North Dakota State with sights set on a fourth straight win.