Davidson Leads No. 16 Duke Past No. 20 UCF on Day Three of Clearwater Invite

Saturday, February 18

Clearwater, Fla.

10 a.m.

Duke University

6-3

UCF

4-4

UCF

Duke

Davidson Leads No. 16 Duke Past No. 20 UCF on Day Three of Clearwater Invite

2/18/2023 7:26:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 16 Duke softball pulled out the 4-3 walk-off win over No. 20 UCF in 10 innings on Saturday afternoon during the third day of the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational.

Junior Claire Davidson led the team on both ends, finishing the day batting 2-for-4 with one run, while throwing 5.0 innings in the circle. The Lakewood Ranch, Fla., native tallied four strikeouts on 72 pitches and held the Knights to just one unearned run on two hits.

HOW IT HAPPENED

UCF posted the first run of the game in the opening frame to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead.
The Blue Devils answered in the bottom of the second with back-to-back RBI-doubles from sophomore Ana Gold and junior Sarah Goddard before Aminah Vega tallied an RBI groundout to score Goddard from third.
Both teams went scoreless over the next three innings until the Knights capitalized in the sixth thanks to an RBI double and single to knot the score at 3-3.
Neither team recorded the go-ahead run in the seventh, forcing extra innings.
Freshman Cassidy Curd, who entered the contest with one out in the seventh, was stout in relief for Duke, limiting the Knights' offense during the final 3.2 innings while registering three strikeouts.
Playing with international tie breaker rules that places a runner on second to begin extra innings, the Blue Devils finally broke through in the bottom of the 10th when Vega reached on a fielder's choice to score Goddard from third. Goddard had shifted up 60 feet thanks to a wild pitch.

NOTES

The Blue Devils notched their second consecutive win over a top-20 opponent this weekend and move to 6-3 on the season.
Curd collects her third win in the circle after throwing 46 pitches in relief.
Davidson, Goddard and Gold each posted a double in the contest for their fourth, fourth and first doubles of the year, respectively.

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils will round out their schedule in the Sunshine State on Sunday facing No. 25 Michigan. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available through StatBroadcast.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils softball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeSOFTBALL".

#GoDuke