As the sun beat down on the outfield Friday and an energetic crowd packed the stands and stomped their feet, Duke softball stepped out on the field to host archrival North Carolina for a three-game series at home.
Over the course of three days, the Blue Devils won three decisive victories — including a run-rule win Friday — against the Tar Heels, riding on junior ace Cassidy Curd’s return to form, an offense that kept pressure on North Carolina and fielding that stopped many a runner in their tracks.
“I had a really tough spell the last month. I think this weekend was when I broke out of it …” Curd said. “I was in a pretty big mental slump but kind of leaned really heavily on my teammates and the people to the left and the right of me, and they helped pull me out of it.”
Curd tossed two complete games, conceding only one earned run in the series as the Tar Heels went scoreless in the final game on Sunday.
“[Curd] really has a commanding presence on the field," head coach Marissa Young said. "She talks a lot between pitches with her teammates, her catcher, her infielders, and I think that keeps that camaraderie, that trust that they are in it together.”
As a young fan cried out, “You got this, 19!” referring to Curd’s jersey number, the Port St. Lucie, Fla., native struck out her first batter in four pitches to kick off Friday’s game. Another strikeout followed suit shortly after. The Blue Devils’ strong defensive start was quickly blindsided, however, as North Carolina brought two runners home. Curd, staying calm and taking more time between tosses, struck out yet another batter to limit the early damage.
Down 2-0, the batting lineup had their work cut out for them. The offense came out swinging. First came a walk, followed by junior Aminah Vega slamming the ball past second base for a single. It took two groundouts to bring in Duke’s first run. Despite being down 2-1, the aggression was enough to force North Carolina to vary pitches and reset the game’s tone.
Vega and graduate student Thessa Malau’ulu reestablished the Blue Devils’ dominance as the early innings progressed, backed up by senior Ana Gold and a supporting cast of juniors KK Mathis and D’Auna Jennings.
In the bottom of the second inning, Duke (29-12, 10-5) loaded the bases with one out and two hits smashed far out of the Tar Heel fielders’ reach — a canary in the coal mine for the North Carolina dugout. In a tense moment, Malau’ulu hit a fly ball to right field that was easily caught. Jennings sprinted from third for home, missing the safe haven as she dove before turning around and grasping at the plate. The other two runners followed suit as a throw to home went too far to the right, giving the Blue Devils a 4-2 edge.
Introducing relief pitchers didn’t do the Tar Heels (29-12, 8-7 in the ACC) much good either. Mathis delivered a crucial blow in the third inning with a home run just over the center-field wall. An inning later, a Malau’ulu triple was followed by successive home runs from Vega and Gold to make it 10-2. As their bats sharply cracked against the ball and it sailed over the outfield in arcs far away from any fielder’s mitt, it looked like the game was a foregone conclusion.
Vega tallied two RBIs and one run on the day, bringing her batting average to an impressive .431 in the process.
“One word to explain myself in offense is just consistency,” Vega said. “I try to stay here all the time. Maintaining that and just being that one person on the team that can do that, that's my goal.”
Meanwhile, Curd kept North Carolina scoreless, keeping her composure and striking out batters with low fastballs and the occasional curveball.
Undeterred by the unproductive slog of foul balls and a home run in the top of the fifth, Curd’s fielders backed her up to end a potential comeback. A single from Malau’ulu drove the final nail in the coffin, sending the Tar Heels packing 11-3 in just five innings.
“At the end of the game, we want to win all five or all seven innings,” Young said. “It's that reset, restart mentality.”
Duke picked up where it left off the following day, starting strong with a six-run first inning and snatching a series win with a 14-7 victory. Vega and Gold delivered again, scoring a combined six runs with five RBIs. Although North Carolina leapt out to a 7-6 lead following a five-run fourth inning, the Blue Devils’ offense landed eight runs over the fourth and fifth innings to clinch the weekend.
Sunday, on the other hand, saw a tightened defense engage in a game of deterrence through denial.
“We knew today was going to be a battle of the toughest team, our ability to make adjustments from the things we saw in the first two games and to really tough it out for seven innings,” Young said. “Our defense was phenomenal, and we got the timely hits.”
The Blue Devils made a double play to prevent the Tar Heels from scoring in the top of the first after getting two runners on base. Curd improved as the game progressed, with the frequency of strikeouts increasing while fielders ran to catch every fly and foul ball they could. Varying her riseballs and drop-curves, she took calculated risks when going for strikeouts, careful not to let a full count turn into a walk.
Bunting proved ineffective for North Carolina as the infield repeatedly rushed to the ball and Gold threw with near-perfect accuracy from shortstop. Malau’ulu, Gold and Jennings scored a run each in the contest to edge out the Tar Heels 3-0.
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Duke will look to extend its eight-game win streak as it heads to Pittsburgh Friday for a three-game series against the Panthers.
Samanyu Gangappa is a Trinity sophomore and local/national news editor for the news department.