Late-Inning Rally Falls Short in ACC Opener at No. 15/15 Duke

Friday, March 10

Durham, NC

6:00 PM

University of Louisville

16-5, 0

Duke

19-4, 0

Louisville

Duke

Late-Inning Rally Falls Short in ACC Opener at No. 15/15 Duke

March 10, 2023 | Softball

Box Score

Cards score three runs in the sixth inning, but fall short in 9-6 loss at Duke

By: Lori Harmon

DURHAM, N.C. – The University of Louisville staged a late-inning rally, but fell short in a 9-6 loss at No. 15/15 Duke Friday evening at Duke Softball Stadium.

Louisville (14-6, 0-1 ACC) and Duke (19-4, 3-1) will conclude the three-game series with a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Freshman Sarah Gordon went 3-for-4 with two runs and graduate senior Hannah File delivered a three-run homer while sophomore Korbe Otis went 2-for-3 and extended her hitting streak to 11 games. On the night, Louisville tallied eight hits and stranded 10 runners.

Duke jumped on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the second and again in the third inning to take a 4-0 lead.

Louisville began to chip away in the fourth when freshman Madison 'Pickle' Winkler led off with a walk and a Duke error sent her to third and she scored on a wild pitch to put the Cards on the board. Gordon followed with a single to bring up graduate senior Hannah File who crushed a shot over the right field fence to pull Louisville within a run.

The Blue Devils countered in the home half of the fourth with back-to-back home runs by Ana Gold and Kairi Rodriguez, extending their lead to 6-3.

After Duke used four hits to plate three more runs to take a 9-3 lead in the fifth, the Cards put up a three-spot of their own in the top of the sixth. Otis got the offense started with her second hit of the game and moved t third on an error to set up File's sacrifice fly. Senior Daisy Hess stepped up to the plate and smashed a two -run homer to left field, bringing the score to 9-6.

The seventh inning brought one more chance to score for the Cards. Winker connected on a one-out hit, but Louisville could not move a runner into scoring position and the Blue Devils prevailed 9-6.

Alyssa Zabala (6-3) took the loss, surrendering four earned runs on six hits and striking out one in two innings.

Lillie Walker (5-0) picked up the win, allowing three unearned runs on three hits and striking out five in 3.1 innings of relief. D'Auna Jennings went 2-for3 with a triple and two RBIs to lead Duke at the plate.