No. 22 Duke Sweeps Doubleheader; Secures Series vs. North Carolina

Friday, April 23

Durham, N.C.

5 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

No. 22 Duke Sweeps Doubleheader; Secures Series vs. North Carolina

4/23/2021 11:12:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

DURHAM – Propelled by four home runs and solid pitching, No. 22 Duke swept its doubleheader against North Carolina with an 8-0 six-inning victory in game one and a 9-4 win in game two Friday night at the Duke Softball Stadium.

Winning the twinbill, the Blue Devils (33-10, 21-10 ACC) secured their first series versus the Tar Heels (12-22, 8-16) in program history. Duke outscored North Carolina, 17-4, as the squad registered 21 hits on the day.

Duke was led by sophomore Gisele Tapia with a 5-for-7 performance, including a home run and five RBIs. Along with Tapia, sophomore Kamryn Jackson, junior Kristina Foreman and senior Jameson Kavel all hit a long ball.

Senior pitcher Peyton St. George (13-6) started both games in the circle, earning the victory in the first contest, while junior Shelby Walters (14-3) threw four frames for the win in game two.

Game 1: Duke 8, North Carolina 0 (6)
North Carolina tallied its first hit to lead off the contest before St. George retired the next 15 Tar Heel batters in which she racked up 10 strikeouts.

Tapia plated Duke's first run on an RBI single to left field in the bottom half, scoring junior Deja Davis who reached on a bunt single down the first base line. The Blue Devils saw two more scores in the second inning on an RBI fielder's choice from Foreman and RBI double by senior Rachel Crabtree (3-0).

Jackson sent a three-run home run off the scoreboard in the third to up Duke's lead, 6-0. Graduate student Dominique Salinas hit an shot up the middle in the fourth frame, scoring Foreman who doubled to center, while senior Sydney Bolan ended the game early with an RBI single to right field in the sixth (8-0).

St. George earned her 13th win of the season, tossing five complete innings of one-hit softball. Senior Brianna Butler threw one inning of relief in which she fanned one Tar Heel.

Game 2: Duke 9, North Carolina 4
The Tar Heels got out to an early lead with a two-run home run in the first inning, but the Blue Devils knotted the game at 2-2 in the second. Crabtree collected her second double of the day with a shot down the left field line, scoring Jackson, and Tapia followed with her first of three hits to score Crabtree.

Working with two outs in the fourth, Davis doubled and Duke jumped ahead as Tapia sent her second base hit through the middle for an RBI single. In the next at bat, Kavel launched her third home run of the 2021 campaign to expand the Blue Devils' advantage to 5-2.

Duke saw two homers in the fifth inning as Foreman and Tapia both blasted two-run shots down the right field line, registering Duke's final runs of the contest (9-2). Foreman's home run was her sixth of the season while Tapia's was her fourth.

North Carolina used four hits to score a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but Walters recorded the last out with her fifth punchout.

Duke's pitching duo combined for 10 strikeouts as St. George threw three innings and Walters tallied her 14th victory of the season after four frames in relief.

Notables

Tapia's three hits in game two tied her career high.
The last time Duke hit three home runs in a single game was against USC Upstate on March 4, 2020.
Duke broke its season RBIs record with 17 between the two games, surpassing the record of 186 in 2019.
Crabtree is one RBI shy of tying graduate student Raine Wilson for the most RBIs in program history.
Kavel and Foreman's 33 runs scored are two shy of the season record (35 by Wilson in 2018).
With four doubles today, Duke is four away from tying the season record of 73 in 2018.

#GoDuke