Duke Falls in Series-Opening Doubleheader to Louisville

Friday, March 23

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

16-13, 3-4

Louisville

21-8, 1-3

Louisville

Duke

Duke Falls in Series-Opening Doubleheader to Louisville

3/23/2018 9:55:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score (PDF) - Game 1 Box Score (PDF) - Game 2 2018 Season Stats Box Score (HTML) - Game 2 Box Score (HTML) - Game 1

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Behind an array of runs in the late innings of both contests, the Louisville Cardinals (22-8, 2-3 ACC) upended the Duke Blue Devils (16-14, 3-5 ACC) in the series-opening doubleheader Friday at the Duke Softball Stadium.

A three-run fifth in game one and a five-run seventh in the second contest helped push the Cardinals past the Blue Devils. Duke held a 2-0 lead in game one until Louisville began its rally in the third, eventually pulling into the lead and taking game one, 5-3. Game two featured a pitching duel before Louisville broke through with all five runs in the final frame to win 5-0, handing Duke its first shutout loss in program history.

Raine Wilson, Jazmine Moreno and Dominique Salinas led the way for Duke's offense, with Wilson picking up three hits over the two games while Moreno and Salinas tallied a pair each. Along with Moreno, Haley Wymbs and Hannah Pridemore all drove in one run Friday.

The day's first game opened with little action until the home half of the second, when Duke plated the first two runs of the day behind RBI singles from Moreno and Wymbs. Amelia Wiercioch opened the frame with a double to right on a 1-1 pitch, while Katherine Huey and Jill Ferraro followed by reaching safely to load the bases with no outs. Moreno would step in and line a single to center and Wymbs would follow with a base hit through the right side to put Duke up 2-0. However, that is all Duke could get out of the frame, as Louisville picked up three-straight outs to escape the jam without any more damage.

Louisville then began chipping away at Duke's lead, using a sac fly in the third and RBI single in the fourth to tie things up at 2-2. The Cardinals broke things open on the second batter in the fifth with a two-run blast to left to go up 4-2. A single three batters later would drive home the inning's third run, pushing Louisville's advantage to 5-2.

Duke attempted to rally in the seventh, with a Wilson single and Rachel Abboud walk to put two on with no outs. A pair of strikeouts put the Blue Devils' rally in jeopardy before Pridemore singled to center to score Wilson, but a sly out to left closed the book on game one, giving the Cardinals the series-opening win, 5-3.

Game two featured less scoring and more defensive prowess, as both sides were held scoreless until the day's final frame. The Cardinals were able to put a runner on third in the opening inning before Duke escaped unscathed, while Duke's first threat came in the fourth as two singles put Wilson 60 feet from pay dirt.

The backbreaker came in the seventh, as Georgia took advantage of several miscues from the Blue Devils to push out in front. UL would load the bases with one away before driving home two on a single up the middle. Duke looked poised to escape the frame without any other harm before Louisville landed a pinch-hit, bases-clearing double to go up 5-0. Duke's leadoff batter in the home half was able to reach via walk before back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout gave Louisville the series with a 5-0 victory.

Duke used three of its pitchers Friday, with Wiercioch (4-4) drawing the start in game one and Huey (7-5) getting the nod in the latter of the twinbill.

Both sides return Saturday afternoon for the series finale, with first pitch from the Duke Softball Stadium set for noon ET. The contest will be live streamed on ACC Network Extra, which fans can access through WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.

For more information on Duke softball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for “DukeSoftball”. You can also find all-access coverage of all Duke athletic programs on SnapChat by searching for “dukeathletics”.

Series Info…

Friday, March 23
Louisville def. Duke, 5-3 (Recap, Stats)
Louisville def. Duke, 5-0 (Recap, Stats)

Saturday, March 24
Duke vs. Louisville – 12:00 p.m. ET
ACC Network Extra
Durham, N.C.
Duke Softball Stadium

Live Broadcast…
Saturday's series finale will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Fans can access the broadcasts through WatchESPN.com, the ESPN app or by clicking the links below.

Duke vs. Louisville ACC Network Extra (Saturday, March 24)

Live Stats…
Duke will provide live stats for the weekend's series finale. Fans can access that through www.GoDuke.com/softball or by clicking the link below.

Duke vs. Louisville Live Stats (Saturday, March 24)

Ticket Information…
Admission for all games this weekend, as well as all season at the Duke Softball Stadium, is free to all fans.

Weather…
Saturday, March 24 – High 47, Low 33; PM Rain (90%)

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