Upcoming Event: Softball versus Charlotte on October 4, 2025 at 1 p.m.

4/28/2018 4:01:00 PM | Softball
DURHAM, N.C. – It was domination from the start for the Duke Blue Devils (28-23, 12-11 ACC) Saturday afternoon, as a sixth-run first inning keyed a 9-1 run-rule victory to take the series against the Virginia Cavaliers (12-38, 3-20 ACC) at the Duke Softball Stadium.
With the win the Blue Devils have won three-straight ACC series for the first time in program history, taking down Notre Dame and Virginia Tech on the road before reeling off wins in the first two games this weekend.
Duke received production across the lineup, as seven players recorded a hit to fuel the Blue Devils' nine-hit day. Leading the way was Jill Ferraro and Dominique Salinas, who each tallied a pair of hits while Ferraro drove in a game-high two runs as well.
The first of those runs batted in came in the six-run first inning, as the Blue Devils wasted no time in getting things started. Rachel Abboud drew a leadoff walk to open up the contest, followed by a Haley Wymbs infield single and a hit by pitch for Raine Wilson that loaded the bases for Amelia Wiercioch. The pitcher would draw a walk to score the game's first run and then a sac fly to right from Jameson Kavel scored Wymbs to make it 2-0 Duke.
Ferraro was next up to the plate. Ripping a 2-2 pitch up the middle to push Wilson across home plate and chasing Virginia's starting pitcher from the contest. After a groundout moved runners to second and third, a UVA throwing error scored two more to make it 5-0 in favor of the Blue Devils. Salinas would tally her first hit of the day with a single to left to give Duke a 6-0 advantage after just one inning of play.
Both sides were quiet in the second frame before Ferraro pushed home Duke's seventh run of the contest with a double to left, scoring Kavel. The Cavaliers were able to cut the lead down to six with a lengthy top of the fourth that resulted in an RBI single to left center to bring the Blue Devil lead to 7-1.
However, Duke would get that run back in the home half of the fourth and tack on one more to enact the run rule situation. Abboud drew a one-out walk and was pushed to second on a sac bunt from Wymbs to set the scene for a Wilson double to give Duke an 8-1 lead. Peyton St. George, who entered in relief in the top half of the inning, delivered her second run batted in of the weekend to make the lead 9-1 after four.
St. George would get a strikeout swinging and back-to-back groundouts to secure the run-rule win in the top of the fifth. Wiercioch (10-10) picked up the win, going 3.2 innings while allowing one run on four hits. St. George threw 1.1 innings in relief, striking out one and holding UVA without a hit.
The Blue Devils will go for their second ACC series sweep of the season in the weekend finale on Sunday, April 29. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET at the Duke Softball Stadium, with senior day festivities for Ferraro beginning at 12:51 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, which fans can access through WatchESPN.com or 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”.
Extra Bases…
Series Schedule...
Friday, April 27
Duke def. Virginia, 3-2 (Stats)
Saturday, April 28
Duke def. Virginia, 9-1 [5] (Stats)
Sunday, April 29
Duke vs. Virginia – 1:00 p.m. ET
ACC Network Extra
Durham, N.C.
Duke Softball Stadium
A Year Of Firsts...
The Blue Devils' inaugural campaign will be filled with a number of statistical firsts as the year goes on. Here is a look at the firsts accomplished by Team One so far.
Game: Feb. 8, 2018 vs. FAU (Game 1)
Win (Team): Feb. 8, 2018 vs. FAU (Game 1), 4-3
Win (Individual): Katherine Huey vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
At-Bat: Jameson Kavel vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Pitch: Amelia Wiercioch vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Baserunner: Jameson Kavel (Walked, 1st Inning) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Hit: Amelia Wiercioch (Double, 1st Inning) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Single: Rachel Abboud (3rd Inning) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Double: Amelia Wiercioch (1st Inning) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Walk: Jameson Kavel (1st Inning) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Hit By Pitch: Ashleigh Rodriguez (7th Inning) vs. FAU (Game 2), Feb. 8, 2018
Run Scored: Raine Wilson (1st Inning, Amelia Wiercioch 2 RBI Double) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Run Batted In: Amelia Wiercioch (1st Inning) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Sacrifice Hit: Jazmine Moreno (SAC Bunt, 1st Inning) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Sacrifice Fly: Rachel Abboud (5th Inning) vs. FAU (Game 2), Feb. 8, 2018
Strikeout: Amelia Wiercioch (Strikeout Looking) vs. FAU (Game 1), Feb. 8, 2018
Stolen Base: Dominique Salinas (2nd Inning) vs. FAU (Game 2), Feb. 8, 2018
Complete Game: Katherine Huey vs. Michigan State, Feb. 9, 2018
Shutout: Katherine Huey vs. Michigan State, Feb. 9, 2018
Complete Game Shutout: Katherine Huey vs. Michigan State, Feb. 9, 2018
Extra Innings Game: Feb. 10, 2018 vs. Boston University (L, 7-4 [8])
Home Run: Katherine Huey (2-Run, 4th Inning) vs. Penn State, Feb. 16, 2018
Save: Amelia Wiercioch vs. Penn State, Feb. 16, 2018
Comeback Win: Feb. 16, 2018 vs. Penn State (Trailed 5-0 in T3, won 7-5)
Triple: Jameson Kavel (6th Inning) vs. Purdue, Feb. 16, 2018
One-Hitter: Amelia Wiercioch vs. Purdue, Feb. 16, 2018
Double Play Turned: 5-3 (Raine Wilson to Rachel Abboud) vs. Purdue, Feb. 17, 2018
Winning Streak: 5 Games (Feb. 16 vs. Penn State - Feb. 23 vs. Morgan State)
National POTW Honor: Katherine Huey (espnW), Feb. 21, 2018
Extra-Innings Win: March 2, 2018 vs. Yale (W, 4-3 [9])
Grand Slam: Amelia Wiercioch (4th Inning) vs. Lehigh, March 3, 2018
Run-Rule Victory: March 4, 2018 vs. Kent State (W, 8-0 [5])
ACC Contest: March 9, 2018 at North Carolina (L, 2-1 [9])
Multi-Home Run Game: Raine Wilson at North Carolina (Game 1), March 10, 2018
Midweek Contest: March 14, 2018 at Charleston (W, 5-1)
ACC Victory: March 16, 2018 vs. Boston College (W, 4-3)
ACC Victory (Individual): Peyton St. George vs. Boston College, March 16, 2018
Four-Hit Performance: Rachel Abboud vs. Boston College, March 17, 2018 (4-4)
ACC Shutout: March 18, 2018 vs. Boston College (1-0)
ACC Series Victory: March 16-18, 2018 vs. Boston College
ACC Series Sweep: March 16-18, 2018 vs. Boston College
ACC Road Win: April 1, 2018 at Pitt (2-1)
ACC Double Play Turned: 4-6-3 (K. Dry to J. Kavel to R. Abboud) vs. Georgia Tech, April 6, 2018
ACC Weekend Rubber Game: April 8, 2018 vs. Georgia Tech (L, 5-3)
ACC Road Series Win: April 13-14, 2018 at Notre Dame
Inside-The-Park Home Run: Amelia Wiercioch (3rd Inning) at Notre Dame (Game 2); April 14, 2018
Multi-Double Play Game: Two at Virginia Tech; April 20, 2018
Back-to-Back ACC Series Wins: April 13-14, 2018 at Notre Dame & April 20-22, 2018 at Virginia Tech
Three-Straight ACC Series Wins: April 13-14, 2018 at Notre Dame, April 20-22, 2018 at Virginia Tech & April 27-29 vs. Virginia
#GoDuke
Pitching:
W: Wiercioch, Amelia (10-10)
L: E. Osherow (6-16)
Batting:
RBI: S. Avilla 1
Base Running:
RUNS: D. Ingraham 1
Batting:
2B: Ferraro, Jill 1
RBI: Wilson, Raine 1 ; Wiercioch, Amelia 1 ; St. George, Peyton 1 ; Kavel, Jameson 1 ; Ferraro, Jill 2 ; Salinas, Dominique 1
SH: Wymbs, Haley 1
SF: Kavel, Jameson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Crabtree, Rachel 2 ; Wymbs, Haley 1 ; Wilson, Raine 2 ; Wiercioch, Amelia 1 ; Kavel, Jameson 1 ; Ferraro, Jill 1 ; Moreno, Jazmine 1
HBP: Wilson, Raine 1