Tag: Duke softball

No. 10 Duke’s Jala Wright is named ACC Pitcher of the Week

Duke senior pitcher Jala Wright named ACC Pitcher of the Week.

No. 10 Duke is preparing for its home opener Wednesday against North Dakota State at Duke Softball Stadium, and it will do so with one of the ACC’s best pitchers in tow.

Duke senior pitcher Jala Wright was named ACC Pitcher of the Week to kick off the NCAA season.

Wright was impressive in her three appearances at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, which saw Duke take on the best team in the nation, No. 1 Oklahoma. The Blue Devils would lose, but they bounced back and beat Iowa State, No.18 Nebraska, and Long Beach State to end the weekend 3-1.

Jala Wright appeared in three of the four games and posted a 0.66 ERA while striking out 13 batters in her 10.2 innings of work. Against Nebraska, Wright went the distance and was near-perfect, with the lone miss being a solo home run she gave up in the last inning as she tried to lock down the perfect game.

In the Long Beach State game, Wright pitched 2.2 hitless innings and struck out four batters to help the team win 2-0.

As a junior, Wright threw 133.2 innings in 37 appearances in the circle, making 22 starts. She posted a 12-4 record and a 2.51 ERA. She will be a significant part of Duke’s efforts to return to the NCAA Tournament and push themselves to make a deep run.

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.

Duke softball sweeps doubleheader against Iowa State and Nebraska for first two wins of 2024

The Blue Devils couldn’t get the better of top-ranked Oklahoma on Thursday, but the Duke softball team handled business against Iowa State and Nebraska on Friday.

If any Blue Devils fans needed a reminder that a season-opening loss to Oklahoma is not the end of the world, the Duke softball team gave them that on Friday.

Duke played two games in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge on Friday, first against Iowa State before an afternoon game against Nebraska, and the Blue Devils won both games by a combined 18 runs.

The team wasted little time reminding the Cyclones they were still one of the best teams in the country during the morning’s opening game. After Duke batted in two runs in the opening inning, the Blue Devils broke the game wide open with a five-run second inning.

The entire rally happened with two outs. After the bases were loaded by two singles and a walk, junior Ana Gold laced a single into left that drove home two runners. Claire Davidson followed up with a two-RBI smack of her own in the very next at-bat, a double to right-center, before Aminah Vega brought her around to home with a single.

Seven straight Blue Devils batters reached base before the final out of the inning was recorded, and the lead was 7-0 before the Cyclones got their second chance to bat.

Iowa State tried to answer with two runs in the bottom of the second, but a grand slam from Davidson powered another five-run inning in the third, and the rout was on.

Duke scored four more runs over the rest of the game and ended up winning by mercy rule, 16-3, after just five innings. Davidson finished the game with a home run, two doubles, and six RBIs in just four at-bats.

The Blue Devils kept the momentum rolling in the top of the first against Nebraska, with Aminah Vega powering a line drive into right field to bring home a pair of runners and give Duke the early lead.

Duke managed to bring four more runs home across the next six innings, including a solo shot from Jada Baker in the sixth, but those opening two runs proved to be enough of a buffer.

Nebraska didn’t score a run until the bottom of the final inning, when Duke’s lead was already six, and the Cornhuskers managed just a single run and a single hit across the entire game as Duke coasted to a 6-1 victory.

The Blue Devils now sit 2-1 on the young after the back-to-back wins. They play their last game of the season-opening tournament on Saturday against Long Beach State. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. ET.

NCAA Softball Tournament: Stream and broadcast info for Friday’s ACC matchups

Here’s how you can keep up with all of the ACC action in the 2022 NCAA Softball Tournament.

For the first time since 2015, six ACC teams were selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament, with four of the six among the top 16 seeds.

One of those four teams is Clemson, which reached its second consecutive ACC Championship game last week, ultimately losing to Florida State. Despite the loss for the Tigers, Clemson will still be an NCAA Tournament host this weekend as the No. 10 seed.

The other three teams in the top 16 are Florida State, Virginia Tech and Duke, which are No. 2, No. 3 and No. 12, respectively. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame will compete in the first round on the road.

During Clemson’s three-game stint in the ACC Championship, shortstop Alia Logoleo led the way on offense, finishing with three home runs in the tournament while batting 6-10 in the process. Logoleo and the Tigers will look to compete for the program’s first National Championship as the NCAA Tournament begins Friday.

Here’s how you can stay updated with all of the ACC action in the first round.