Duke’s Walk Off Win Secures Doubleheader Sweep Over East Carolina

Wednesday, April 12

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

32-8

East Carolina

23-18

ECU

Duke

Duke’s Walk Off Win Secures Doubleheader Sweep Over East Carolina

4/12/2023 11:54:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

DURHAM – No. 11 Duke softball (33-8, 10-5 ACC) swept East Carolina (23-19, 1-8 AAC) in a doubleheader on Wednesday night at Duke Softball Stadium.

The Blue Devils defeated the Pirates, 11-5, in the opening game before completing the sweep with a 4-3 walk-off win the nightcap.

Junior Claire Davidson led the way with her bat, finishing 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Five other Blue Devils collected two hits each, while senior Gisele Tapia and sophomore Ana Gold accounted for seven of Duke's 14 RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME ONE)

East Carolina jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the opening frame after loading the bases on two walks and a single.
Graduate student Deja Davis opened the scoring for the Blue Devils in the bottom half after bringing in freshman D'Auna Jennings, who reached on a leadoff double.
Duke plated two more runs in the third inning using back-to-back doubles and a sacrifice fly to pull ahead, 3-1.
The Pirates responded in the fourth with two runs of their own before freshman Sophie Garner-MacKinnon took over for junior Jala Wright in the circle to end the inning without further damage.
The Blue Devils offense erupted in the fifth and sixth inning to score eight runs on five hits and ultimately put the game away, 11-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED (GAME TWO)

Similar to game one, East Carolina took an early lead after Taudrea Sinnie sent a leadoff triple to center field. Sinnie was brought in on Jocelyn Alonso's sacrifice fly to put the Pirates ahead, 1-0.
Davidson plated Duke's first run with a double to the left center wall to score freshman Aminah Vega, who also reached on a double.
Tapia tallied her fifth RBI of the night with a base hit to score Jennings from second and put the Blue Devils in front, 2-1.
The Pirates kept the Blue Devils close after posting runs in the fifth and seventh inning to tie the game up, 3-3, heading into the final half.
Senior Kelly Torres sparked a two-out rally with a single to left field before scoring the game-winning run after Jennings reached base on a Pirates' throwing error.

NOTES

Freshman Cassidy Curd fanned eight in her 5.1 innings of the nightcap and maintains her perfect 10-0 record.
With the wins, the Blue Devils are two shy of reaching 200 program wins.
Tapia continues to lead the NCAA in sacrifice flies with eight on the year, including two during the twin bill.
Garner-MacKinnon improves to a 4-1 ledger after tossing 3.1 innings while allowing one run on two hits and punching out two in the opening contest.
Duke carries a five-game winning streak into its weekend conference series with Boston College.

UP NEXT
Duke softball travels to Boston College for a three-game ACC weekend series beginning on Friday at 4 p.m. The games on Friday and Saturday will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, while Sunday's contest will be carried on ACC Network.

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

#GoDuke