Duke’s inaugural season has had its ups and downs, but one thing is for certain—in a year full of surprises, Blue Devil fans never know what the next series will bring.
Duke will travel to Pittsburgh this weekend to take on a tough ACC opponent in a three-game set beginning at 5 p.m. Friday at Vartabedian Field. After losing five of their last seven games, the Blue Devils will be hungry for a series victory and will look to improve on their 4-5 conference record. Duke ended its recent five-game homestand on a high note Wednesday evening with a thrilling seventh-inning rally against USC Upstate.
Things looked bleak at Duke Softball Stadium when the visiting Spartans scored four runs in the final frame to take a 5-4 lead in the second game of a doubleheader, but after an extra-inning loss earlier in the day, the Blue Devils did not roll over. Freshmen Jameson Kavel and Rachel Abboud started the rally with singles, and fellow first-year Amelia Wiercioch tied the game with a two-out line drive to left, setting up a walk-off hit from Kortney Dry.
After the game, Duke head coach Marissa Young had high praise for her young squad and the resilience her young players have shown despite their lack of college experience.
“We’ve talked about our fight all year long and I wasn’t pleased to see us give up four runs going into that inning, but I was proud of the way their backs were against the wall and they continued to fight,” Young said. “We’ve just got to find a way to minimize that one big inning.”
The Blue Devils (18-15, 4-5 in the ACC) will look to carry their momentum into this weekend and pick up a series win, but Pittsburgh will not make it easy. The Panthers (17-12-1, 6-2) have won four of their last five and feature a potent offensive attack that will challenge even the elite pitching staff of the Blue Devils.
Pittsburgh relies heavily on the contributions of senior Giorgiana Zeremenko and her offensive prowess. The catcher and infielder has started all 30 games for the Panthers, and her .358 batting average and .768 slugging percentage make her an elite threat at the plate. She also leads her team in on-base percentage, doubles, home runs and RBIs. Despite this, Young is confident that Duke’s dangerous pitching and quality defense will be able to handle a player of her caliber.
“We’ve got to make quality pitches in good situations, and I think our pitchers have done a really good job of that,” Young said. “Defensively, we just have to do a really good job of cleaning things up.”
Duke’s biggest strength throughout its inaugural season has been its pitching. Led by Amelia Wiercioch, the Blue Devil pitching staff has combined to toss seven shutouts and boasts a 2.02 team ERA, good for second in the ACC and 32nd in the nation. But the key to earning a positive result in this series may be getting the bats going—when scoring three or more runs, Duke has a 16-5 record.
“Our pitching has been fantastic and our hitters are doing a really good job of getting on and getting things going,” said Young. “Just having better at-bats and runners in scoring position will produce some runs.”
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