No. 3 Duke Drops Series to Virginia Saturday

Saturday, April 20

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

39-5, 0

Virginia

28-15, 0

Virginia

Duke

No. 3 Duke Drops Series to Virginia Saturday

4/20/2024 8:02:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

DURHAM – Third-ranked Duke battled Virginia in Saturday's doubleheader at Duke Softball Stadium but came up short, falling 4-3 and 3-2. With the wins, the Cavaliers clinched the conference series victory, 2-1.

The Cavaliers (30-8, 13-8 ACC) snapped the Blue Devils' (39-6, 17-4 ACC) five-game winning streak and handed Duke its first ACC series loss since March 24-26, 2023.

Duke's pitching staff of seniors Jala Wright and Lillie Walker and sophomores Sophie Garner-MacKinnon and Cassidy Curd saw action in the circle during the twin bill. Garner-MacKinnon was pinned with her first loss of the season in the opening game and moves her season ledger to 3-1. Despite fanning a game-high five batters, Curd picked up the loss in the nightcap and drops to 8-3 on the year.

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME ONE)

Senior Claire Davidson opened the scoring in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly to bring in classmate Kelly Torres, who reached on a triple down the right field line.
Virginia responded in the following frame with a two-out grand slam from Jade Hylton to pull ahead, 4-1.
Davidson and Torres sparked the offense again in the bottom of the fifth after plating two additional runs on back-to-back sacrifice flies to cut the Cavaliers' advantage to 4-3.
The Blue Devils battled until the final frame, loading the bases on one out using a pair of singles and a hit by pitch, but were unable to push the winning runs across.

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO)

Virginia carried its momentum into the second game, jumping ahead in the top of the third with Hylton's second long ball of the night, a two-run blast out of left center field.
The Cavaliers sparked a two-out rally in the top of the fourth to stretch a 3-0 lead after connecting on a pair of singles.
Sophomore Aminah Vega put the Blue Devils on the board with a triple to the center field wall, to bring in Torres, who reached on a base hit before moving up on a groundout.
Two batters later, graduate student Gisele Tapia slid a single through the left side to score Vega and make it a 3-2 ballgame.
Down to the final out, sophomore D'Auna Jennings drew a walk to keep the offense alive but was left stranded as the Cavaliers grabbed the third out to claim the series victory.

NOTES

The Blue Devils dropped their first conference series since falling to Florida State on March 24-26, 2023 at Duke Softball Stadium.
Duke leads the all-time series against the Cavaliers, 13-3.
Torres and Vega each tallied the fourth triple of their careers.
Wright tossed 1.2 scoreless innings in the nightcap, while recording five strikeouts to push her season total to 130.

UP NEXT
Duke closes out the regular-season home slate with a pair of non-conference midweek games at Duke Softball Stadium. The Blue Devils host Gardner-Webb on Tuesday before welcoming Longwood on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

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

Duke Centennial
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