Duke softball completes doubleheader sweep against Army

Sophomore Aminah Vega went three-for-four at the plate and batted in three runs during Duke’s second win of the day on Saturday.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Duke softball beat Army by a score of 8-0 on Saturday.

The second game of the doubleheader against the Black Knights ended the exact same way as the first one, with the Blue Devils cruising to an eight-run victory.

Junior Ana Gold got the game started with a solo home run in Duke’s second at-bat, her team-leading third of the season and the 32nd home run of her Blue Devils career.

Senior Kelly Torres doubled home another run in the first, but it was sophomore Aminah Vega who truly stole the show at the plate. After a groundout in the first inning, Vega notched her first RBI of the day with a single in the bottom of the third.

The second baseman kept the momentum rolling with another RBI in the following inning, this time a double that brought Claire Davidson around to score. Vega capped off the stellar game with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, a walk-off shot that gave the Blue Devils the eighth run they needed to invoke the mercy rule.

Vega’s three-RBI day tied her with Gold and Davidson for the team lead with 14 on the season, and the sophomore is also third on the team in batting average (.433) through the first nine games of the season.

Davidson got some impressive work in herself at the plate against the Black Knights, bringing two teammates home to score with a fourth-inning double that highlighted a two-for-two day at the plate (she was hit by a pitch in her second at-bat).

In the circle, Dani Drogemuller got all six innings of work for the Blue Devils, and with her form on Saturday, there was never any need to consider another option.

Drogemuller retired the first four batters she faced on Saturday, allowing a one-out double in the second inning, and then retired five of the next six batters she faced (one Black Knight reached on an error in the third).

A leadoff single for Army proved to be its last hit of the day as Drogemuller picked through the last three innings with ease. The Illinois native finished the six-inning game with two hits, a walk, and three strikeouts, and the Black Knights never came close to scoring a run.

After allowing three runs in 2.1 innings against Iowa State during the opening weekend, Drogemuller has been on an absolute heater. She’s pitched 11 innings across her last three outings, and she’s surrendered a combined four hits and three walks without a single run over that time frame.

With Vega’s solo shot in the sixth cementing victory, the Blue Devils improved to 8-1 on the young season. Duke plays its fifth and final game of the weekend on Sunday against FIU, whom the Blue Devils beat 6-0 on Friday.

Duke softball needs only five innings against Army behind near-perfect pitching

Another monster game from Claire Davidson at the plate and dominant pitching from Sophie Garner-MacKinnon powered Duke to its seventh straight win.

The Duke softball team won its third game of the weekend on Saturday morning, needing only five innings to put Army away by a score of 8-0.

The Blue Devils, who have now won seven straight games, were kickstarted by senior Claire Davidson at the plate once again. After two walks to begin the morning game, the left fielder pushed a base hit through into the outfield to bring both runners home.

With Duke’s lead still two runs in the bottom of the third and a runner on first, Davidson launched her second home run of the year over the left field wall to make it a 4-0 ballgame.

Davidson’s four RBIs on Saturday morning brought her season total to 12, the second-highest of anyone on the team (Ana Gold – 13). Through eight games this season, the outfielder is batting .440 and leads the Blue Devils with five extra-base hits.

The Blue Devils plated three more runs in the bottom of the third to stretch their lead to seven, thanks to RBI singles from Gisele Tapia, Kelsey Zampa, and D’Auna Jennings.

If you’re noticing that Duke’s leading margin was the same as the number of runs that Duke scored, that’d be because Army couldn’t generate any offensive momentum.

Sophomore Sophie Garner-MacKinnon got the game started in the circle and stayed there for the entire five-inning game, allowing two hits and two walks but zero runs. She only struck out one Army batter, but she routinely forced easy defensive plays to keep the offense silent.

The Black Knights managed to get two runners on base in the opening inning thanks to a walk and a single, but Garner-MacKinnon forced a pop-up to strand them aboard. After a one-out double in the second, she coaxed two fly-outs into the outfield.

The next two innings were routine, three batters up and three batters down. Suddenly, after another run from the Duke offense in the bottom of the fourth courtesy of a Francesca Frelick home run, Army came to bat in the top of the fifth with the game on the line.

Only one runner reached base that inning after Garner MacKinnon surrendered a walk with two outs. The following pitch resulted in a ground ball to end the game.

The Blue Devils, now 7-1 for the season, get a second crack at the Black Knights on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET, their fourth game in two days.

Florida quality control analyst leaving UF to join Army football staff

After a two-year third stint with the Florida Gators, quality control analyst Cheston Blackshear is taking an on-field role with Army.

Former Gators offensive lineman [autotag]Cheston Blackshear[/autotag] has spent the last two years as an offensive line analyst for Florida under Billy Napier, but he’s leaving the program to take an on-field job with the football staff at Army.

Blackshear is a four-time letter winner who played 41 regular season games for the Gators. He won a national championship under Steve Spurrier in 1996.

“It has been an honor to serve at my alma mater, these last two seasons,” Blackshear wrote on Twitter. “It is difficult to convey the overwhelming sense of pride I feel to have had the opportunity to return to this great football program…

“… I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire Gator Nation. I arrived at this great university years ago and became a National Champion. The support and encouragement I have received from the fans has been forever present. Your love and support will continue to motivate me in all my future endeavors.”

Blackshear has coached at Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown, New Mexico and Nevada. Army head coach Jeff Monken welcomed him to the team on Tuesday.

“We are proud to welcome Cheston Blackshear to the Army Football Brotherhood,” he said. “Cheston will be a fantastic fit for our culture as he has a wide variety of experience from his playing career at Florida to his coaching tenure there that will add a lot of knowledge, making an immediate impact in the development of our young men.”

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The best images from Army’s sixth win over Navy in eight years

Army stuffed Navy on fourth and goal to seal its sixth rivalry victory in the past eight years.

The Army Black Knights defeated the Navy Midshipmen 17-11 on Saturday to claim the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy as the best service academy football team in 2023.

Army, who had won five of the previous seven editions of the classic rivalry, dominated the first half. The Black Knights scored 10 points and held Navy scoreless, taking a multi-possession lead into the break. The Midshipmen put together one solid drive deep into Army territory early in the first half, but starting quarterback Xavier Arline forced a risky throw that ended up in the hands of Army defensive back Max DiDomenico for an interception.

Navy didn’t score any points until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when they kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it a 10-3 game. Tai Lavatai, who replaced Arline at quarterback, did provide the Navy offense with a little more juice, as he threw for 179 yards on 26 attempts for the game.

Then, disaster struck. Lavatai was stripped in the pocket by Army linebacker Kalib Fortner, who recovered his own fumble and raced 44 yards back to the end zone to make it a 17-3 game with less than five minutes left.

Miraculously, however, Navy still made it a game. Lavatai marched his offense down the field, picking apart soft Army coverage for a 59-yard touchdown drive. After an Army punt, the Midshipmen had the ball with a chance to tie the game in the final two minutes.

Lavatai again picked up yardage in chunks as the Black Knights surrendered easy completions. Once the Midshipmen got into the red zone, however, Army stiffened. On Navy’s final goal-to-go sequence, they had two incompletions and a short throw down to the 2-yard line. The Midshipmen tried to run a quarterback sneak on the final play, but Army stopped them inches from the goal line to seal victory.

Here are the best images from Army’s rivalry victory.

Army unveils some awesome ‘Dogface Soldiers’ uniforms for the 2023 Army-Navy game

These Army uniforms are NICE.

We’ve already seen the Navy’s sleek submarine-themed uniforms for the 2023 Army-Navy game, and now we’ve got some awesome threads for Army, honoring the 3rd Infantry Division.

The uniforms were revealed on Tuesday, and here’s the history behind them, per Army:The 3rd Infantry Division’s success hinged upon its ability to seize and maintain the initiative against a determined adversary in harsh and unforgiving terrain. The Dogface Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division accomplished this feat through clear application of the U.S. Army’s characteristics of the offensive: surprise, concentration, audacity, and tempo.”

Check these out:

Holy Cross’ Frankie Monte flattens Army’s Bryson Daily

What a hit by Holy Cross’ Frankie Monte against Army

The game won’t register on the national scene. The hit might register on the Richter Scale.

Army was looking to score on a short-yardage play Saturday against the Crusaders.

Frankie Monte of Holy Cross had other ideas.

The linebacker absolutely flattened Army’s Bryson Daily. Crushed him.

Army set to join AAC as a football only member in 2024

Army joins Navy as football-only members of the AAC starting in 2024.

The American Athletic Conference (AAC) has found a replacement for the departing SMU Mustangs starting in 2024. The Army Black Knights will be joining the conference as football-only members beginning next season.

This will end a 19-year run as an Independent. The Black Knights were last part of a conference with Conference USA from 1998 to 2004. Army already holds a victory over a future conference foe this season. They defeated UTSA on Sept. 15, 37-29.

Army Rice
Charlotte South Florida
East Carolina Temple
Florida Atlantic Tulane
Memphis Tulsa
Navy UAb
North Texas UTSA

Army is currently 2-5 with four straight losses to Syracuse, Boston College, Troy, and LSU.

According to the report from The Athletic, the annual Army-Navy game will remain a nonconference matchup played after the AAC title game. Since Navy is part of the AAC, if they were the top two teams in the conference, they would play in back-to-back weeks per ESPN’s Heather Dinich.

LSU is in the top 15 of ESPN’s college football power rankings after Week 8

Last Saturday, LSU got another convincing win during homecoming against Army.

Last Saturday, LSU got another convincing win during homecoming against Army.

Jayden Daniels bolstered his Heisman Trophy odds as he padded his stats for the first three quarters. [autotag]Brian Thomas Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag] had outstanding performances as well.

LSU’s defense got their first shutout of the season as the Tigers beat Army 62-0. [autotag]Andre Sam[/autotag] was the biggest producer on defense as far as turnovers. He ended the night with two interceptions.

LSU’s record now sits at 6-2 this season and the Tigers are still in control of their destiny as a win over Alabama would likely secure them an SEC West title.

LSU ranks 15th in ESPN’s power rankings this week. Here’s what ESPN’s Alex Scarborough had to say

Talk about leaving no doubt. The final score — LSU 62, Army 0 — only told part of the story. The Tigers racked up 570 yards of offense, including 6.1 yards per rush and 13.7 yards per pass. On defense, they forced four turnovers, allowed only 42 yards passing and had five tackles for loss. Meanwhile, Jayden Daniels continued to build on his Heisman credentials with four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing). Riding a three game winning streak, LSU is playing its best football going into the bye week with a Nov. 4 trip to Alabama to follow.

LSU has a bye week this week before playing Alabama next week.

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Brian Kelly praises Andre Sam’s performance against Army

The Marshall transfer had two interceptions in the win Saturday night.

[autotag]Andre Sam[/autotag] is a player who has seemingly gotten better every week.

On Saturday night against Army, the Marshall transfer finished the game with three tackles and two interceptions as the Tigers’ defense got its first shutout of the season.

It was a welcome sight to see the secondary playing so well, even though it was against Army. The LSU secondary has been the subject of a lot of criticism this year as they have struggled for the first few weeks of the season. That is due to how many new guys [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has played at cornerback and at safety.

Kelly was asked after the game what he thought about Sam’s performance.

“Yeah, it’s fun to watch,” Kelly said. “His patience is really what’s starting to show. I thought he took himself out of some plays early in the year, being maybe just a little too aggressive or out of control. If you remember early on, maybe some missed tackles. He’s really settled in and is playing confident and patrolling the middle of the field. We had a couple maybe he’d like to have back or he’d have four interceptions, but playing at a high level. We need him to continue to do that. If he does, he presents a solid piece for us back there.”

Sam has been a bright spot in the past few games. Hopefully, he can keep that great stretch going.

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Latest update on injury to LSU cornerback Zy Alexander

Zy Alexander exited the Army win with a lower leg injury, and his status moving forward is unclear.

LSU got the big 62-0 win over Army on Saturday night in Week 8, but the team didn’t emerge entirely unscathed despite not giving up a point.

Cornerback [autotag]Zy Alexander[/autotag], a transfer from Southeastern Louisiana who has started all eight games on the outside, left the game with a lower leg injury. He reportedly could not put weight on his ankle and was ruled out.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] didn’t have much to update about Alexander immediately following the game. He said the team would have a clearer picture surrounding the extent of his injury in the coming days.

It’s unclear if Alexander will return for the Alabama game, and if he doesn’t, LSU’s depth will be strained. With [autotag]JK Johnson[/autotag] already out for a lengthy period of time, [autotag]Duce Chestnut[/autotag] away from the team and [autotag]Denver Harris[/autotag] inactive against Army, the Tigers had to rely on two true freshmen in [autotag]Jeremiah Hughes[/autotag] and [autotag]Javien Toviano[/autotag], as well as [autotag]Laterrance Welch[/autotag].

Safety/nickel [autotag]Sage Ryan[/autotag] can also play outside corner, and [autotag]Ashton Stamps[/autotag], who missed Saturday night’s game with an injury, is expected to return during the bye week.

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