Duke softball ready for first-ever ACC games vs. rival North Carolina

<p>Amelia Wiercioch has shown some flashes of brilliance from both the mound and the plate this year.</p>

Amelia Wiercioch has shown some flashes of brilliance from both the mound and the plate this year.

After making a splash against nonconference foes in their inaugural season, the Blue Devils look more than ready to dive straight into ACC play.

And pitted against their fiercest rivals in the conference, they have a chance this weekend to stake a claim as an ACC contender already.

Duke will travel to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at Anderson Stadium. With the Tar Heels recently falling short of high expectations in nonconference play, the Blue Devils have an opportunity start the ACC season with a bang. With Duke head coach Marissa Young and graduate transfer catcher Jill Ferraro both both very familiar with North Carolina, this three-game series means more than just bragging rights.

In Young’s career with the Tar Heels as an assistant coach, she helped North Carolina to a 37-16 record in 2015—good for an NCAA tournament appearance. 

Now, Young has the chance to lead the Tobacco Road rivalry from the other side.

“We're excited to start ACC play,” Young said. “Obviously we've had some early season success, but we're getting into the heart of the season when it counts most.... It's a huge rivalry for our program and our first-ever for softball, so that's going to be exciting for fans and everybody involved, but we can't get caught up in that.”

Coming off a 3-1 showing at the Duke Inaugural tournament—including a dominant 8-0 run-rule win against Kent State—the Blue Devils (12-6) have momentum on their side heading into the weekend.

With a talented but young pitching squad of freshmen Katherine Huey, Peyton St. George and Amelia Wiercioch, inconsistency from the mound has been a constant struggle for the Blue Devils. When Duke dominated the Golden Flashes, the Blue Devils limited Kent State to just two hits thanks to superb pitching from Wiercioch. 

In its 10-4 loss to North Dakota State, however, Duke surrendered 14 hits, with Wiercioch allowing six runs.

But the Blue Devils have benefitted from a bevy of strong hitters at their disposal. In its last three games combined, Duke has notched 28 hits with 14 RBIs. Against Lehigh, Wiercioch contributed four RBIs, proving instrumental in a tight 5-3 victory.

Another valuable asset for the Blue Devils’ offensive machine is sophomore Raine Wilson. Although Wilson struggled at the plate early on—notching just two hits in five games in February’s Citrus Classic—the Mechanicsville, Va., seems to have found her stride again, knocking five hits in her last nine at-bats.

But Wilson and six of her teammates were suspended for Friday's series opener just hours before the first pitch.

“We've relied on [Raine] a lot early on, and I think she has just put a little too much pressure on herself,” Young said. “Getting her to just calm down and relax and do what she's good at is key for her. It has been good seeing some other hitters like Amelia [Wiercioch] and Rachel [Abboud] step up and it'll be good when we're all firing together.”

As for North Carolina, the Tar Heels have struggled mightily through their nonconference slate. North Carolina has won just four of its last 11 games—a woeful mark for a team considered to be an ACC juggernaut. 

Like the Blue Devils, the Tar Heels can trace many of their struggles back to the mound. North Carolina averages just 4.8 strikeouts per contest.

At the plate, though, North Carolina holds an impressive team batting average of .283, with the likes of Brittany Pickett and Leah Murray sparking the offense. If the Tar Heels' bats get hot and Duke’s inconsistency in the outfield flares up, the Blue Devils may find themselves with a tough opener to conference play.

“Our ability for our pitchers to minimize offense and for our hitters to stay aggressive, move runners and score runners is key,” Young said. “When we've gotten ourselves into trouble, it's been not playing a great defense behind our pitchers."

The series will also mark a homecoming for Ferraro, who has hit one of Duke's six home runs this season and starts at catcher after transferring from Chapel Hill.

“The bottom line is to win,” Ferraro said. “We've had a really good preseason and we want to keep that going. We may be a first-year team but we have really high expectations, so we're going out every single game looking to win…. I'm a Blue Devil now, so I'm focused on executing the game plan and getting the wins for Duke.”

This article was updated Friday at 3:30 p.m.to include the news of the seven suspensions.

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