Le Lifts No. 11 Duke Past No. 4 UCLA, 1-0, Sunday

Sunday, February 23

Cathedral City, Calif.

12 p.m. EST

Duke University

13-3

UCLA

14-2

Duke

UCLA

Le Lifts No. 11 Duke Past No. 4 UCLA, 1-0, Sunday

2/23/2025 9:19:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Sophomore Linh Le drove in the game-winning run in the top of the seventh to lift No. 11 Duke (13-3) past No. 4 UCLA (14-2), 1-0, to close out action in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Sunday afternoon. The Blue Devils finished 5-0 on the weekend and outscored their opponents 20-1.

Junior Cassidy Curd earned the win in the circle after limiting the Bruins to just three hits in 7.0 innings of work. The Port St. Lucie, Fla., native also fanned five during the contest. She finished the weekend 2-0 with two saves in her four appearances. The lefty tossed 18.0 scoreless innings, allowing just nine hits while collecting 17 strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first four frames were a pitchers' duel between Curd and the Bruins' Taylor Tinsley. The pair combined to allow just one baserunner to advance into scoring position during that stretch.
The Blue Devils put pressure on UCLA's defense in the top of the fifth after sophomore Amiah Burgess led off with an infield single and graduate student Thessa Malau'ulu followed by reaching on a Bruins' fielding error. A sacrifice bunt from redshirt junior Jada Baker moved the duo into scoring position but Duke was unable to push a run across the plate and the game remained scoreless.
The Bruins tried to spark their offense in the bottom of the sixth, placing runners on the corners with one out, but Curd was able to work her way out of the jam with a strikeout and fly out to escape the inning unscathed.
In the final frame, Malau'ulu sent a double deep into left-center field to jumpstart the offense again. Le followed two batters later, dropping a two-out base hit into the second base gap to score Malau'ulu and put Duke in front, 1-0.
Curd allowed one to reach on a walk in the bottom of the seventh before settling back in with a strikeout for the second out. Burgess made an incredible diving catch over the left foul line fence to grab the final out and leave the game-tying run stranded at first.

NOTES

The Blue Devils are now 4-3 against top 25 opponents this season, including 2-0 against top five teams.
Duke earned its first win over UCLA to shift the all-time series to 2-1.
Curd tossed her third complete game shutout of the season and moves her ledger to 5-1.
She owns a 1.71 ERA after 10 appearances and has allowed just one run in her last 27.0 innings.
Burgess, Le, Malau'ulu and junior D'Auna Jennings accounted for Duke's four hits during the contest.
With the win, Duke extended its winning streak to nine games.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils return to Durham for their home opener against Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Duke Softball Stadium. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.

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

#GoDuke