Duke's Marissa Young praises early work from Cassidy Curd, Kelly Torres in ACC semifinal vs. Clemson
Duke fell behind 2-0 to Clemson in the first inning of the semifinals of the ACC Softball Tournament on Friday, but the Blue Devils have battled back.
Pitcher Cassidy Curd kept the Tigers down after surrendering an early two-run home run to Maddie Moore, giving her teammates a chance to get the Blue Devils back in the game.
Overall, Duke coach Marissa Young likes what she has seen from her sophomore pitcher.
“Yea, it is [just that one mistake] and she’s learning from it, continuing to move the ball around the zone and get the Clemson hitters to expand a little bit,” Young told the ACC Network.
Duke was in danger of surrendering more runs in the top of the fourth inning, but a stellar play from catcher Kelly Torres kept that from happening.
Torres blocked a low pitch by Curd, picked up the ball quickly and fired to third in time to catch pinch runner Kennedy Ariail, who was trying to advance on the play.
Curd got out of the inning shortly thereafter and Marissa Young was hopeful that that play would give the Blue Devils some momentum.
“She’s been really working hard,” Young said of Torres. “Obviously it started yesterday with the blocks behind the plate for Jala Wright and then that [caught stealing], that’s a game-changing play for us. Hopefully we can build off that momentum.”
Duke capitalized off of the momentum and a Clemson error to tie the score at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Blue Devils, who won the ACC during the regular season, are battling with Clemson for a spot in the ACC Softball Tournament finals.
Duke advanced to the semifinals after getting a walk-off home run from Aminah Vega on Thursday against Boston College.
The ACC Defensive Player of the Year got the job done at the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning, drilling a two-run home run to center field off Boston College starter Abby Dunning to lift Duke to a 2-0 win.
Offense was hard to come by for both teams on Thursday, before Aminah Vega came through with the big hit late.
The Blue Devils entered the bottom of the 10th inning with only four hits, before Claire Davidson led off the frame with a double. Vega then followed with the walk-off home run as Duke improved to 44-6 on the season.
After the game, Vega spoke with the ACC Network about her home run.
“I’m in the circle, and I’m just like, ‘They’re not going to give up anything good to Claire. They’re not. Claire’s out best hitter, she’s shown it all year,’” Vega explained. “So all I was thinking was she’s going to get on and I’ve got to do my job. … I’ve got to do my job, have a better at bat than every other at bat I’ve had, and it’s time to show out this time. We’ve got to do it.”