Tag: D1softball

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’s Claire Davidson named D1Softball’s National Player of the Week

Senior Claire Davidson batted in 10 runs in three games against Clemson, earning her D1Softball’s National Player of the Week honors.

D1Softball named Duke’s Claire Davidson its National Player of the Week on Tuesday.

The senior’s recent form came to a head against the Clemson Tigers over the weekend when she recorded five hits, including a pair of 3-run homers, in three games. She added two doubles in the Sunday finale, helping the Ble Devils clinch the sweep, and batted in 10 runs across the series.

Duke softball has played 12 games since March 28. In that time frame, Davidson has batted 0.552 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs.

Here surge has her on the doorstep of some program records as she has 15 home runs (four short of the single-season mark) and 56 RBIs (already tied for the school record) with nine games left in the regular season.

This is the second time a Blue Devil earned national honors after second baseman Aminah Vega was named the NCAA Player of the Week for her performances against Virginia Tech last month.

Davidson’s chase for Duke history continues with a Wednesday road game against UNC Greensboro.

Texas A&M outfielder Jazmine Hill named SEC Player of the Week

Texas A&M outfielder Jazmine Hill earned SEC Player of the Week after playing lights out through four games

Junior Jazmine Hill transferred to Texas A&M to be back around familiar faces, Coach Trisha Ford. Since being in Aggieland, she’s been one of the most consistent bats on the team, with a strong .392 batting average, eight home runs, 32 RBI, and a .725 slugging percentage.

Below is the excerpt from the SEC press release naming Hill as the SEC Player of the Week.

Texas A&M’s Jazmine Hill, a graduate student outfielder from Norwalk, Calif., went 6-for-9 at the plate this past week, including 5-for-8 in the series win over Kentucky. Over the four games, Hill tallied six hits (including a double and a triple), five walks, four runs scored and three RBI. Defensively, she recorded three putouts and two assists, including a game-ending 8-2-6 putout in game two to clinch the series against the Wildcats.

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Duke softball within top five in three major polls

After a series victory over Louisville and a 26-3 start to the season, few teams are higher than the Blue Devils in national rankings.

Few programs are in a better state right now than Duke softball.

Duke is within the top five in three national polls this week, with Softball America ranking the Blue Devils as the fourth-best team in the country.

The team is fifth in the USA TODAY Sports/NFCA Coaches Poll and the USA Softball rankings, and D1Softball slotted the Blue Devils in at sixth.

The Blue Devils dispatched Louisville in a three-game road series over the weekend, losing Saturday’s game in eight innings but taking the Friday and Sunday contests.

The wins moved Duke to 26-3 on the season with a 7-2 record in conference play, and national polls are confident the Blue Devils will make national noise come the postseason.

The Blue Devils, the consensus best team in the ACC, resume their season with a three-game series against Virginia Tech, the last team without a loss in conference play. The series starts on Thursday.

Duke softball stays within top five of D1Softball rankings after Syracuse sweep

Duke didn’t allow a run over the entire weekend in a three-game sweep over Syracuse that featured 10 scoreless innings from star pitcher Jala Wright. The performance kept them in D1Softball’s top five.

Duke softball remained in the top five of D1Softball’s weekly rankings on Monday after a weekend sweep of the Syracuse Orange.

The Blue Devils, now 15-1 for the season and 3-0 in conference play, didn’t allow a run for the entire three-game series.

They began with a 7-0 win on Saturday, the first game of a double-header. Star pitcher Jala Wright continued her exceptional form with six shutout innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five batters.

Wright took the mound again on Sunday, throwing the first four innings and surrendering three hits but again striking out five batters. She earned her seventh win of the season for the latter performance, and she retired her last six batters in a row.

The performances gave Wright four consecutive shoutout starts with 20 combined innings between them. She sports an ERA of 0.37 with more than three times as many strikeouts (48) as hits allowed (15) through her 37.2 innings of work this season.

The second game of Saturday’s double-header ended almost the exact same way with a 6-0 Duke victory. Senior Francesca Frelick, who batted in two runs during the first game against the Orange, batted in two more in the second with a double in the fourth inning.

Frelick has been a run machine for the Blue Devils as of late. Her four RBIs on Saturday gave her 13 runs batted in over her last six games, including a six-RBI performance against Michigan State.

Senior Claire Davidson also mashed a solo home run in the fourth inning, her fifth shot of the year and her second RBI of the afternoon.

The offense did the least damage in Sunday’s finale, with a three-run triple from first baseman Gisele Tapia in the bottom of the first providing the game’s only three runs.

Texas took over the top spot in the D1Softball poll from three-time defending national champion Oklahoma, who dropped to second. LSU and Oklahoma State rounded out the rest of the top 10.

Three other ACC teams made the site’s top 25. Clemson came in 11th, Virginia Tech slotted in 15th, and Florida State rounded out the trio in 16th.

Texas A&M outfielder Allie Enright earns SEC Player of the Week

Texas A&M junior outfielder Allie Enright earned SEC Co-Player of the Week after the Aggies 5-0 weekend at the Campell/Cartier Classic

After splitting time in the outfield last season junior Allie Enright has all but solidified a full-time role in center field after getting off to a strong start to the year. She has the hottest bat on the team right now with a ridiculous .609 batter average, 3 home runs, 14 RBI, and a 1.174 slugging percentage.

Below is the excerpt from the SEC press release naming Enright as the SEC Co-Player of the Week.

“Texas A&M’s Allie Enright, a junior outfielder from Santa Clarita, Calif., led the Aggie offense this past week as she went 8-for-14 with four runs scored and three RBI at the Campbell/Cartier Classic. In the two wins over No. 17/14 Oregon, Enright was 3-for-4, including an RBI double in Sunday’s finale against the Ducks. In her 14 at-bats, she struck out only once while drawing two walks.”

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Texas A&M pitcher Emiley Kennedy earns SEC Pitcher of the Week

Texas A&M junior pitcher Emiley Kennedy earned SEC Co-Player of the Week after the Aggies 5-0 weekend at the Campell/Cartier Classic

Building off a productive sophomore year the junior lefty Emiley Kennedy has been blowing by the competition through the first nine games of the season. The Aggies technically don’t have an “ace” but Coach Trisha Ford knows she can go to her 6’2″ flame thrower to get the outs she needs.

After two weekends Kennedy has already surpassed her career high in strikeouts recording 11 against the No.23 Oregon Ducks. For the year she’s pitched 25.2 innings, has 35 strikeouts, and boasts a 1.06 era with 4 wins. It’s early but she is showing good control of her pitches and still has room for growth.

Below is the excerpt from the SEC press release naming Kennedy as the SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week.

“Texas A&M’s Emiley Kennedy, a junior left-hander from The Woodlands, Texas, recorded two complete game wins and two saves in a 5-0 week for the Aggies. In her two appearances against No. 17/14 Oregon, Kennedy struck out 15 batters in 9.0 innings of work. She recorded a 7.0 inning complete game and struck out 11 on Friday. She then threw 2.0 innings and struck out four in a save appearance on Sunday. One the week, Kennedy registered 23 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work.”

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Texas A&M softball moves up in the rankings after red hot start to the 2024 season

After remaining undefeated through the first two weeks on the season the Aggie softball team moves into the top 20

Head softball coach Trisha Ford has Texas A&M undefeated to start the season and knocked off two Super Regional teams along the way to a 9-0 record. After outscoring opponents 63-17 to start the season while being unbeaten, movement in the rankings was almost guaranteed. The question was how far up they would jump and in which polls.

All major softball polls have moved the Aggies into the Top 20 following two opening season tournament sweeps.

Texas A&M is one of five SEC teams that’s undefeated through two weeks and has a Top 25 win under their belt by beating No. 23 Oregon twice. The Aggies get a break before another busy weekend hosting the Texas A&M Invitational February 22-25.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on Twitter: @whosnextsports1.

Sooners Still On Top: Updated look at the top 25 softball power rankings after Week 2

Updated look at college softball power rankings after week 2.

Week 2 of the softball season is in the books. And while the action in Clearwater, Florida, getting halted due to weather left much to be desired, it was another fantastic week on the diamond.

There were a number of impressive performances across the country and we’re beginning to see the top teams separate themselves.

Oklahoma may be in a tier of its own because of what it has done over the last three-plus years, but teams such as Texas and Georgia have been impressive as well.

On the flip side, powerhouse programs UCLA and Florida State have had slow starts.

The SEC is beginning to establish itself as the premiere softball conference. Mississippi State and Kentucky have picked up big nonconference wins this season. In D1Softball’s latest top 25, 11 SEC programs are represented. That’s not even including Oklahoma and Texas who will officially be joining the SEC in July.

The Red River Rivals have been on a tear to start the season and look to be on a collision course for the Big 12 title in their final years.

Here’s a look at the latest D1Softball top 25 and where those teams rank in the Softball America power rankings.

Updated to include USA TODAY Sports NFCA Coaches Poll and USA Softball/ESPN Poll.

More: 3 Stars from the Sooners 5-0 weekend in Lake Charles