Neither desert sunshine nor massive floodlights fazed the Blue Devils this weekend, as they went 4-1 to start up their season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
No. 15 Duke’s best performance came in a shutout win against No. 2 Oklahoma State Friday night, with additional victories against Cal Baptist and Utah Friday and Saturday, respectively. The sole loss came in a nail-biting, 8-7 finish to No. 21 Arizona State late Saturday after a thrilling Duke comeback effort. Duke capped off the tournament with another win against Utah.
In Duke's highlight of the weekend, Oklahoma State’s star-studded lineup was brought to its knees Friday thanks to a complete game, three-hit gem from Peyton St. George, and the 4-0 win was secured with three long balls from Duke’s Caroline Jacobsen, shortstop Jameson Kavel and second baseman Kristina Foreman. The trio combined for eight home runs and 21 runs batted in for the weekend.
“It was a pretty emotional back and forth game with Arizona State, a great game. Obviously, we want to come out on top,” head coach Marissa Young said of the weekend. “Our kids had three to four hours of sleep to turn around and come back to play Utah [Sunday] morning and I told them that that's what championship teams are made of—finding a way to gut it out and come out with a win, and they did that.”
Duke (4-1) entered the sixth inning trailing Arizona State 5-2 after the Sun Devils collected a string of doubles off graduate pitcher St. George in the fourth. After sophomore catcher Kelly Torres—who went 8-for-14 on the weekend—reached base on an error, Jacobsen came in clutch and knocked a home run over the right field fence to bring the gap to one.
After infielder Kamryn Jackson hit a single to right and outfielder Kyla Morris took first on a hit by pitch, up to the plate stepped freshman phenom Ana Gold. On a 1-2 count, the infielder knocked a single up the middle, allowing Jackson to round third and even up the score.
“She hit .400 on the weekend, had some key hits and stolen bases and she's just mentally ahead of her years,” Young said of Gold, who went 4-of-5 on stolen base attempts, including successful steals of second and third after walking in her first collegiate plate appearance. “I don't think there's too many freshmen in the country that can do what she's doing.”
Duke passed the lead back and forth with the host Sun Devils for the last two frames, but ultimately surrendered the contest to Arizona State on a walk-off two-run homer from designated player Kristiana Watson.
After falling behind Cal Baptist 4-0 in the first frame of the season Friday, the Duke bats quickly took over, eventually bringing the score to 15-4 at the close of the fourth. Sophomore pitcher Jala Wright, making her debut for Duke after transferring from Michigan State, shut the door in the top of the fifth, and the game was ended due to the run rule.
“She's been a great addition to our pitching staff. She was throwing 70 [miles per hour] in her debut with Duke and really moving the ball through the zone,” Young said of her newest pitcher.
Utah showed up Sunday determined to stand up to Duke after suffering an 11-2 blowout to the Blue Devils on Saturday, but its resolve eventually broke. A 1-0 lead would hold for Utah until the fourth, when Kavel doubled and advanced to third on a misplay by the Utah catcher before a sac fly from Foreman brought in the tying run.
In the sixth, Utah put up its last effort to keep Duke down. Foreman sent the ball neatly into right-center but she took off to steal second before the ball left the pitcher’s hand and was subsequently ruled out. When Jacobsen pulled the ball straight down the third base line, a leaping Ute third baseman Julia Jimenez stopped it in its tracks—not much was initially going in the Blue Devils' favor.
But once again, the Blue Devils were undeterred. When Jackson stepped up to the plate next, the count went immediately to 0-2, but she followed off two on her way to drawing a walk. Claire Davidson, the sophomore pitcher who was switched into the lineup as designated player, proceeded to knock the ball the other way to left center. Jackson flew around the bases to tie the game, and the Blue Devils never looked back, winning 5-1.
“I think this weekend just showed them that they can play with anybody in the country,” Young said.
Duke next plays Friday at the T-Mobile Tournament in Gainesville, Fla., with five more games on the slate, including one against No. 6 Florida and a nonconference battle with Louisville.
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