Four Home Runs Lead No. 21 Duke Past NC State, 9-2

Friday, April 25

Raleigh, NC

4 p.m.

Duke University

36-14, 15-7

NC State

24-26, 5-17

Duke

NC State

Four Home Runs Lead No. 21 Duke Past NC State, 9-2

4/25/2025 9:34:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. – Home runs from senior Ana Gold, junior Aminah Vega, redshirt sophomore Kairi Rodriguez and freshman Brooklinn Thomas helped lead Duke past NC State, 9-2, in the series opener Friday afternoon at Dail Softball Stadium.

Gold and sophomore Amiah Burgess led the way at the plate, each batting 2-for-3 while Vega, graduate student Thessa Malau'ulu, redshirt junior Jada Baker and junior D'Auna Jennings also contributed to the offense with their multi-hit outings.

In the circle, Dani Drogemuller tossed her ninth complete game of the season after working all 7.0 innings. The graduate student surrendered a pair of runs in the bottom of the first before settling back in to limit NC State to five total hits on the night. The Frankfort, Ill., native also matched her season high with seven strikeouts during the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Gold quickly put Duke in front with a two-run shot to left field in the top of the first. Her long ball brought in Malau'ulu after she reached on a leadoff base hit before advancing on a groundout.
The Wolfpack responded in the home half with a two-run homer of their own to even the score, 2-2.
Vega opened the top of the third with a solo blast to right center field to regain the lead at 3-2. Gold followed Vega with an infield single before Rodriguez went yard to push the Blue Devils ahead 5-2.
Duke kept the momentum going on offense, tacking on three additional runs in the top of the fifth by using Thomas's three-run blast off the left field foul pole to stretch an 8-2 gap.
In the top of the seventh, Thomas drew a leadoff walk before moving into scoring position on a passed ball. She came home in the following at bat, capitalizing on a Wolfpack throwing error to round out the scoring in the 9-2 victory.

NOTES

Gold leads the team with 13 home runs on the year, followed by Vega with nine and Rodriguez with seven.
Thomas tallied her second career long ball.
Drogemuller improves to 15-6 after 31 appearances in the circle.
Duke recorded its 14th multi-home run game of the year and has tallied at least one home run in 15 of its last 17 games.
The Blue Devils outhit the Wolfpack 16-5 during the contest, marking their 25th game of the season with 10 or more hits.
Duke shifts the all-time series to 14-2, including a 10-0 record when playing in Raleigh.

UP NEXT
Duke and NC State continue the three-game set Saturday evening at Dail Softball Stadium. Due to projected inclement weather, the first pitch has been pushed back to 6 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra with Faith Cain and Evan Budrovich on the call.

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