ORLANDO, Fla. – Duke softball split games on the second day of the Black and Gold Invitational, earning its third win of the season with a 3-1 victory over St. John's before falling to UCF, 5-2, at the UCF Softball Complex.
Sophomore
Kristina Foreman led Duke (3-1) at the plate, going 4-for-6 on the day with a home run. Including Foreman, four Blue Devils garnered multi-hit games.
Duke 3, St. John's 1
Duke plated its first two runs of the game with homers, beginning with Foreman who sent a shot over the wall in left (1-0) in the second inning.
Deja Davis made it a 2-0 game in the third with an in-the-park home run, sending the ball to right field before using her speed to round the bases.
Davis notched her second hit of the day with a single to center and
Jameson Kavel entered to pinch run. A single from
Rachel Crabtree brought Kavel home, expanding Duke's lead to 3-0 in the fifth frame.
St. John's Gretchen Bowie scored the Red Storm's first run of the afternoon with a solo homer (3-1) in the bottom of the sixth. The Red Storm added another hit in the inning, but Duke stranded their runner on third base to end the threat.
Shelby Walters recorded her first win of the season, dealing seven complete innings in which she only allowed two hits while tallying four strikeouts.
UCF 5, Duke 2
The Knights took an early 1-0 lead in the first, but Duke answered in the fourth to tie it at 1-1. Sending her second hit of the contest down the left field line, Foreman made her way around the bases and was brought home on a single from Kavel.
UCF responded in the bottom of the inning, taking a 3-1 lead before adding two more runs in the fifth (5-1). Senior
Raine Wilson plated Duke's final run of the game (5-2), knocking her first home run of the season over the fence in left center.
Brianna Butler got the start in the circle, pitching 1.1 innings and grabbing one strikeout before
Peyton St. George (1-1) entered and threw 4.2 innings.
Playing their final game in Orlando, the Blue Devils return to the UCF Softball Complex tomorrow for an 11 a.m. rematch against UCF.
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