As 2024 comes to a close, The Chronicle’s sports department is reviewing the biggest moments from this year in Duke athletics.
At No. 2: After winning its second ever ACC Championship, Duke softball breezed through the Durham Regional and took down Missouri in a contentious three-game series.
For a program not even in its tenth year, the 2024 Duke softball team defied all expectations.
It wasn’t enough for the Blue Devils to win the ACC Championship. The conference final saw a 10th-inning takeover of Clemson, followed by a late surge against No. 2-seed Florida State. Ana Gold’s single tied Duke with the Seminoles at the bottom of the sixth, Kelly Torres made it 4-3 Duke and Gisele Tapia sealed the 6-3 victory for the Blue Devils. For the second time in its short program history, Duke had an ACC trophy.
It wasn’t enough to win the Durham Regional, either. That one was almost too easy for the Blue Devils, who made quick work of Morgan State with a 6-1 victory before sweeping South Carolina twice for the regional title.
Some believed that the Blue Devils should have been hosting a Super Regional as they had the previous year, but the seeding decided otherwise, meaning the 10th-seeded Blue Devils traveled to face off against No. 7-seed Missouri in Columbia, Mo. Playing in front of a hostile crowd seemed to have no effect on the Blue Devils.
In game one of the best-of-three series, Duke stormed to a dominant 6-3 win over Missouri, led by pitcher Cassidy Curd, who produced an impressive 5.1 no-hit innings. Though Curd did not start the game for the Blue Devils, she certainly finished it, coming in as relief for starter Jala Wright. Trusting the Port St. Lucie, Fla., native in the circle turned out to be the right decision, as Curd shut down the Tigers’ offense for the rest of the game and the Blue Devils earned their first Super Regional win in program history.
It was not just Curd’s stellar pitching that proved so vital for Duke to march to victory. On the other side of home plate, four different Blue Devils earned RBIs in the outing. Head coach Marisa Young had nothing but praise for her young team.
“Every day, somebody different shows up and steps up in big moments,” Young said. “I think that our coaching staff does a phenomenal job of preparing our team for what's to come, making sure that the people off the bench are ready to go and they are so excited for their number to be called and really do a job for their teammates.”
The Tigers flipped the script on the Blue Devils in the second game. After an empty first three innings, Missouri rapidly scored three runs while Duke failed to capture the offensive prowess it had in the first game. So, the Super Regional was to be decided by a third winner-takes-all game.
Both teams took their time to find their respective offensive spark in the third game of the series. The contest remained scoreless through all seven innings, meaning an extra was required. The eighth inning came and went without a run for either team either. Then, finally, in the top of the ninth, Duke scored four runs.
D’Auna Jennings immediately kicked things off for the Blue Devils with a home run to finally put Duke on the scoreboard. Shortly after, Francesca Frelick was hit by a pitch. That was all the room Duke needed to put itself back in the game. The Blue Devils scored with the next two batters, forcing the Tigers to quickly call for a change of pitcher as the game was quickly running away from them. But the change in the circle came too late to halt Duke’s momentum. Kelly Torres earned a double towards right field to bring home Ana Gold for the fourth and final run of the inning.
The Tigers had to answer, or else their season would be over. The Blue Devils had to defend, or theirs would be.
For a moment, it seemed like the home team would be the ones to answer the challenge. The first two runners reached base and caused Young to substitute Lillie Walker in for Curd. Then, freshman Abby Hay caught a hold of one for a massive home run to bring Missouri back within one.
Rather than stick with Walker, Young opted to bring Curd back in and trust the southpaw to get it done. The final moments of the game weren’t without their theatrics, but Curd got the job done and Duke won 4-3.
“I think [the win] says a lot about just our consistency of excellence in our program. We want to be seen as a powerhouse softball program,” Young said after the game. “I'm just really proud of the way that the girls continue every year to take us to the next level.”
Though they would eventually fall to Oklahoma and Alabama in the Women’s College World Series, for such a young program to achieve success so quickly bodes well for the team’s future. The Blue Devils will assuredly strive for similar success in 2025.
Read more
Duke softball wins first Super Regional game against Missouri as Curd pitches dominant outing
Duke softball falls to Missouri in Game 2 of Super Regionals, awaits decisive game Sunday
Duke softball 2024 season review
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