How sweep it is. This weekend, then-No. 2 Duke faced off against North Carolina, and for the third time in as many seasons, left undefeated.
The Blue Devils dominated their rivals, only allowing five runs over the course of the weekend and scoring 20. This dominance is nothing new for head coach Marissa Young’s squad, a group that ranks within the top 10 in both team runs per game and earned run average in the NCAA.
“The rivalry between our schools is huge, and we want to continue the tradition of our blue being better,” Young said. “You’ll have to fact check this, but I think we have 11 straight wins against them.” No correction needed. Sunday’s win was, in fact, the 11th in a row; Duke hasn’t lost to North Carolina since March 2019, sweeping it each of the past three years.
Outfielder Claire Davidson was a part of both previous sweeps, and certainly wasn’t going to allow her senior season to be a blemish on her spotless record. Friday, she drove in the final runs with a two-run shot against Tar Heel pitcher Talia Hannappel, alongside scoring a run after singleing in the third inning. Sunday, Davidson teed off against Kenna Raye Dark, North Carolina’s ace.
“[Dark] pitched really well against us Friday, so I just wanted to come out and keep a simple approach,” Davidson said. “The pitch before to [Tapia], I saw she was working her inside, so I was expecting that inside pitch, and that’s what I got.” As Duke’s year progresses closer towards the postseason, Davidson and the Blue Devils will continue to face elite pitching, and if Sunday was any indicator, they’re in good shape.
With 36 games under its belt, Duke (33-3, 13-2 in the ACC) is in its best position in program history. Young’s program’s previous season-low in losses is 11, and this team is tracking to finish far better than that. The win moved the Blue Devils to the top spot in the rankings, overcoming powerhouse Oklahoma, who they fell to in the season opener 3-0 back in February.
One pitcher who’ll certainly get a lot of time in the circle this postseason is Cassidy Curd. The sophomore had a career day Saturday, throwing the seventh complete game of her career in a five-inning run-rule win, holding the Tar Heels (24-13, 6-9) scoreless all the while tallying a career high in strikeouts. Twelve of North Carolina’s 15 outs over the course of the afternoon came via strike three, continuing Curd’s run as a strikeout machine this year. Her 11.4 strikeouts per seven innings is the best mark in the nation, and has been equally effective all year in preventing runs, as she boasts a miniscule 1.39 ERA.
While the series might not have been particularly competitive on the field, the atmosphere definitely felt like an important set of games for the Blue Devils. Curd, the big-game pitcher that she is, certainly thrived in the highly charged environment.
“It's always really exciting to come to the rivalry,” Curd said. “I think the energy was there from the fans, my teammates, the other team, and everybody really brought their energy.”
Curd mentioned the energy brought by the fans, and there was a palpably different buzz around the ballpark for her afternoon start on Saturday. The Duke Softball Stadium was sold out for the first time this season, and the crowd was loud and raucous for her, chanting “three up, three down” every time she took the mound to start an inning.
“It was actually my lovely father leading those, and I honestly feed off of that, I love that type of energy,” Curd said of the fan support. “These people take time out of their days to come and spend time at the ball field, and I think it's a great place to be no matter what the results are.”
Up next for the Blue Devils is a trip to Greenville, N.C., for a Tuesday faceoff against East Carolina, before welcoming Campbell to Durham Wednesday for a single game.
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