Nobody expected the first season of Duke softball to be easy. And since the first weekend of March, it had been a rough go for the Blue Devils, as they lost 12 of 17 games.
But Sunday, the calendar turned to April and Duke took the opportunity to turn a page at the midway point of conference play.
After dropping both games of a Saturday doubleheader at Vartabedian Field in Pittsburgh, the Blue Devils rode 5 1/3 innings of no-hit ball from Peyton St. George on their way to a 2-1 victory against the Panthers in the series finale. Although host Pittsburgh threatened with two on and one out in the sixth before cutting a 2-0 deficit to just one with a solo homer in the seventh, St. George held strong and slammed the door shut with a career-best seventh strikeout to get the final out.
On a weekend when no Duke pitcher tossed more than three frames in either of the first two contests, the freshman's stellar Easter Sunday performance kept the Blue Devils from returning to Durham empty-handed.
"Her consistency [impressed me most]," head coach Marissa Young said. "She was able to attack them up in the zone and stay consistent with her locations, which was key. They're a team that really takes big swings—they take their hacks, and she was able to miss their bats all day long."
It didn't take long for Duke to grab a lead Sunday. The Blue Devils' second batter, Rachel Abboud, knocked one over the wall in left-center field to put her team up 1-0, and from there, St. George took over. The Panthers stayed quiet into the sixth, as Duke tacked on an insurance run thanks to a Jameson Kavel RBI double.
Pittsburgh ultimately found a bit of an offensive groove in the final two frames, but it proved too little, too late for the home side.
"Our team is a team that responds well after a loss," Young said. "I'd like for us to be able to come out and win that first game instead of waiting until day three to come out on fire to get a win. It's been good to see them bounce back after losses, but you want to see them come out and get the first one."
Not only did the Blue Devils have to respond to one loss, but after Friday's opener was postponed to Saturday, Duke had to bounce back from two defeats. The Panthers piled on 14 combined runs on their way to 6-4 and 8-4 victories, surrendering just four earned runs in the twin bill.
The Blue Devil head coach described her offense as "not having quality at-bats."
"I just think having a fearless mentality and being excited about the opportunity to compete. At times, our kids have struggled throughout the season and they've gotten down on themselves or had a fear of failure," Young said. "They just have to stay confident and do what their team needs them to do in that given moment."
In the opener, Pittsburgh jumped ahead quickly, getting four runs in the first two innings to seize control. Duke did manage to pick up single runs in the second and third frames to chip away at the lead, but the Panthers tacked on two more in the sixth to pick up some breathing room en route to a final margin of 6-4.
Although Blue Devil hurlers Amelia Wiercioch and St. George only allowed six hits, the two combined to surrender eight walks in just six innings of work, giving the hosts plenty of opportunities to capitalize offensively.
Things didn't get much better in the second tussle of the day.
Duke put up crooked numbers in the first and third innings, using an RBI single from Kortney Dry and two RBIs from Jazmine Moreno to put an early stamp on the game, but Pittsburgh answered emphatically. With a two-run shot from Olivia Gray in the first and a three-run bomb by Alexis Solak, the Panthers took over yet again.
They added three unearned runs in the third inning to push their lead to 8-4, and that was all the scoring either team would have the rest of the day.
Dry wound up the only Blue Devil with multiple hits in the defeat, and Wiercioch suffered her second loss in as many games.
Still, Duke remains confident as it turns toward the home stretch of the season—the Blue Devils will now play six games in the span of a week, beginning with a road matchup against Coastal Carolina before a home ACC series vs. Georgia Tech next weekend.
"It's just continuing to build confidence and improve on our mindset," Young said. "We have the talent, we have the pieces. It's just their approach going into games and going into at-bats, and I think they're ready for what's ahead."
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."