Tag: Kelly Torres

Duke softball walks off Virginia Tech to clinch series

The Blue Devils needed only one run in the bottom of the seventh to clinch this weekend’s series against Virginia Tech, and Kelly Torres came through.

Duke softball needed just one win in the bottom of the seventh for a second straight win over Virginia Tech. It took the Blue Devils only five batters to find it.

After a double and two walks from the previous two batters, senior Kelly Torres strode to the plate with the bases loaded and one out on the board. She swung at the second pitch that Virginia Tech’s Lyndsey Grein rifled her way, and the ball rocketed off her bat.

The low, flat long drive looked like a potential lineout to center at first, but the ball kept flying and flying. Hokies centerfielder Emma Ritter could only watch helplessly as it whizzed over her head, one-hopping off the wall and bringing home the winning run.

The win, Duke’s eighth comeback of the year, improved the Blue Devils to 28-3 on the season and 9-2 in ACC play. They’ve taken two in a row from Virginia Tech, who hadn’t lost a conference game before the series began.

Duke trailed from the opening frame after the Hokies hung up four runs in the opening inning. Star Blue Devils pitcher Jala Wright got the start, and the senior had allowed just five earned runs in her 64 innings in the circle.

After an opening triple from Ritter, however, the Hokies set a different tone. Another Virginia Tech runner reached on a throwing error before Bre Peck launched a three-run homer into right-center field.

After another home run, a solo shot from Michelle Chatfield two batters later, Wright returned to usual form. She finished the outing with five strikeouts, six hits, and three earned runs in four innings.

The Blue Devils slowly pulled closer and closer throughout the evening. Second baseman Aminah Vega made the comeback possible, first smacking a two-run homer in the bottom of the first before blasting another two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game.

Right fielder Sarah Goddard pushed in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth, a one-out single that brought Torres around from second base, but the Hokies tied the game in the top of the seventh to set up Torres’ heroics.

The final game of the series takes place at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Seventh-inning rally helps Duke softball win first game of Friday doubleheader

Duke needed all seven innings against Rutgers in the first game of a Friday double-header, but three late runs and some hometown heroics from senior Kelly Torres handed the team its fifth straight win.

Duke softball needed every inning on Friday against Rutgers, but the Blue Devils managed to power past the Scarlet Knights for a 4-1 victory after a seventh-inning surge.

Star pitcher Jala Wright, who started the season by winning ACC Pitcher of the Week for her opening weekend, shined again in the circle. She went the distance, pitching all seven innings and allowing three hits and a single run.

After a 1-2-3 opening inning, Rutgers catcher Katie Wingert took Wright deep to open the second inning for the game’s first run. Instead of letting the blast rattle her, the Blue Devils pitcher responded by taking down the Scarlet Knights’ next three batters to limit the damage to a single run.

In fact, Wingert’s home run was the only time a Rutgers batter reached first base in the first three innings. Wright allowed a walk with two outs in the bottom of the fourth before striking out outfielder Jillian Anderson to end the inning. The Scarlet Knights never gained any momentum, and Rutgers didn’t record multiple base runners in any of the seven innings.

Wright struck out six batters on Friday afternoon, bringing her season total to 19 through just 17.2 innings pitched. The run she surrendered in the second inning was just her second of the young season, and her ERA still sits at just 0.79 after the outing.

As impressive as Wright was on the mound, however, it took Duke some time to gain momentum in the batter’s box. Less than 48 hours after a record-setting 18-run performance against North Dakota State powered by three grand slams, the Blue Devils didn’t put a run on the board for the first four innings.

Finally, Duke broke through in the fifth inning. Senior catcher Kelly Torres, playing in front of her home Fort Lauderdale crowd in Florida, smashed a home run to lead off the inning and tie the game.

The Blue Devils couldn’t capitalize farther in the fifth or sixth innings, however, and the game remained tied as the final inning began. At the buzzer, however, Torres came through again. With two runners on, the hometown hero brought home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice bunt.

One batter later, for a little extra insurance, freshman Amiah Burgess doubled into left-center field to bring home Torres and Sarah Goddard, stretching the Duke lead to three runs.

The three runs were more than enough of a buffer for Wright, who only needed three batters to force the game’s final three outs and cement Duke’s fifth straight victory.

The victory moves the Blue Devils, a consensus top-10 team in the country, to 5-1 on the young season as Duke hasn’t lost since the season opener against No. 1 Oklahoma.

Duke will take on host Florida International University later on Friday for its second game of the day.