Duke Wins Two on Opening Day

Friday, February 7

Orlando, Fla.

12:30 p.m.

Duke University

1-0

Clemson

1-1

Clemson

Duke

Duke Wins Two on Opening Day

2/7/2020 6:32:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ORLANDO, Fla. – Duke softball opened its 2020 campaign with a pair of wins on the first day of the Black and Gold Invitational at UCF. The Blue Devils run-ruled ACC foe Clemson, 11-0, and routed an 8-2 victory over Indiana.

Head coach Marissa Young and her squad are off to their best start in program history with two wins on opening day while remaining perfect (3-0) in season openers.

Junior Rachel Crabtree was hot at the plate, going 5-for-7 with two RBI. Between the two games, every Duke starter registered at least one hit. Including Crabtree, three Blue Devils recorded a multi-hit game against the Tigers while Kristina Foreman joined her versus the Hoosiers.

Duke 11, Clemson 0
Duke picked up an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, starting with a leadoff hit from sophomore Deja Davis. Crabtree singled up the middle, scoring Davis, before Jameson Kavel sent Crabtree across the plate. Kyla Morris added a run onto the board with a RBI single, scoring Caroline Jacobsen, to make it a 3-0 game.

The Blue Devils' offense exploded in the third, using five hits to plate seven runs (10-0). Raine Wilson notched two hits in the frame, including a two-run single, while Kavel and Crabtree each tallied their second hits of the afternoon. Jacobsen recorded her first hit of the afternoon in the inning with a RBI double to right field.

Following Duke's seven runs, Clemson made a pitching change at the end of the third. Jacobsen recorded the first home run of the year for the Blue Devils, sending a shot over the fence in left to tack another run onto the board (11-0).

In the circle, junior Brianna Butler hurled a one-hitter through five innings of action. Butler tallied four strikeouts in her first victory of the season, only throwing 75 pitches in the outing, while Clemson's Valerie Cagle was handed the first loss of her career.

Duke 8, Indiana 2
Indiana plated the first run of the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the second. Junior Peyton St. George entered in the third, working her way out of a bases-loaded jam as the Hoosiers only scored one run in the frame.

Propelled by aggressive baserunning, Duke grabbed its first lead of the game in the top of the fourth. Crabtree began the inning with a leadoff single up the middle and Wilson joined her on base after drawing a walk. Kendyl Lange pinch ran for Crabtree on second and quickly stole third before scoring on a fielder's choice where everyone was safe. Foreman laid down a RBI bunt single to tie the contest before Jacobsen scored the go-ahead run (3-2) on a groundout to the pitcher.

Duke had another explosive inning in the fifth, driving in five more runs on five hits. Three hits highlighted the inning for the Blue Devils – a RBI double by Gisele Tapia, a two-run triple from Davis and a two-run homer from Felise Collins who crushed the ball for her first collegiate home run (8-2).

The Hoosiers allowed eight unanswered runs en route to Duke's 8-2 victory. Dominant after entering in the third, St. George didn't allow any hits through five complete innings in which she racked up eight strikeouts to earn her first win of 2020.

The Blue Devils are back for day two of the invitational tomorrow, playing St. John's at 1:30 p.m. and host-team UCF at 6 p.m.

#GoDuke