Home Runs Sends Duke Past Howard, 10-1, in NCAA Regional Opener

Friday, May 15

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

40-14

Howard

28-18

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Howard	0	0	0	1	0	1	4	0
Duke	3	1	1	3	2	10	10	0

The Duke softball team began its NCAA postseason by topping Howard 10-1 in five innings.

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Home Runs Sends Duke Past Howard, 10-1, in NCAA Regional Opener

5/15/2026 7:31:00 PM | Softball

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DURHAM, N.C. – Six home runs from four different Blue Devils helped guide the offense past Howard in a 10-1 run-rule victory in the opening game of the NCAA Durham Regional Friday.

The Blue Devils improved to 40-14 overall and have now registered 40-plus wins in six straight seasons, while the Bison dropped to 28-18 on the year.

Graduate student Tyrina Jones and freshman Gabriella Shadek powered the offense, batting 2-for-3 and blasting two home runs apiece. Sophomore Layla Lamar and redshirt junior Kairi Rodriguez also added homers to aid the Duke offense.
D'Auna Jennings also had a strong outing, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate. The senior's three hits pushed her past the 300-career hits milestone and set the Duke single-season record with 81 hits on the year.

Sophomore Mallory Wheeler and redshirt freshman Ava Bradshaw made their NCAA debuts, sharing the circle against the Bison. Wheeler (10-5) earned the start and the win, tossing 3.2 innings while allowing just one run off four hits. Bradshaw worked 1.1 hitless innings of relief.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Jones lifted a two-run home run over the right center field fence to open the scoring in the bottom of the first. Her long ball brought in redshirt junior Jessica Oakland from first after she reached on an infield single. Lamar followed with a solo blast to give the Blue Devils an early 3-0 edge.
Shadek added to the lead in the following two frames with a pair of solo home runs, stretching Duke's advantage to 5-0 in the third inning.
Howard pushed its lone run across the plate in the top of the fourth after Tori Trotter drew a bases-loaded walk to make it a 5-1 ballgame.
In the home half, Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk before moving to third on a Jennings' double. The duo then came home on back-to-back sacrifice flies from senior Aminah Vega and Oakland. Jones capped the three-run inning with a solo shot to extend the gap to 8-1.
Graduate student Jada Baker drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the fifth and Rodriguez followed with a long ball to left field to claim the run-rule victory, 10-1.

NOTES

The six homers marked the second-most in a game this season and set the team's single-season home run record with 102 on the year.
Jones and Shadek recorded their second and third multi-home run games of the season, respectively.
Wheeler earned the first NCAA postseason win of her career.
Duke won its NCAA Tournament opener for the fifth consecutive year, improving to 17-12 all-time in NCAA Championship play.
Duke is now 11-3 in run-rule games this season.

UP NEXT
Duke advances to the winner's bracket of the Durham Regional and will face Arizona at 1 p.m. Saturday.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils softball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeSOFTBALL"

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