No. 21 Duke Downs Louisville, 5-1, to Clinch Conference Series

Saturday, March 29

Louisville, Ky.

2 p.m.

Duke University

24-12, 0

Louisville

20-14, 0

Duke

Louisville

No. 21 Duke Downs Louisville, 5-1, to Clinch Conference Series

3/29/2025 6:09:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 21 Duke used a 5-1 victory over Louisville Saturday afternoon to clinch the three-game series at Ulmer Stadium.

With the win, the Blue Devils (24-12, 5-4 ACC) earned their fourth straight conference series victory over the Cardinals (20-14, 3-8 ACC).

Graduate student Dani Drogemuller was strong in the circle, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings and allowing just four singles. Junior Sophie Garner-MacKinnon entered in the bottom of the sixth and surrendered the lone run off a pair of hits in her 2.0 innings of relief. The duo also combined to strike out four during the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Back-to-back two-out doubles to left field from senior Ana Gold and junior KK Mathis plated the first Duke run in the top of the first.
Gold pushed the Blue Devils ahead, 2-0, in the third with a base hit up the middle, scoring graduate student Thessa Malau'ulu from second. Malau'ulu drew a one-out walk before advancing on a hit by pitch.
Redshirt junior Jada Baker opened the top of the fourth with a leadoff home run to left field. A few batters later, Malau'ulu sent a base hit up the middle to score junior D'Auna Jennings, who reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third on a stolen base and Cardinals' throwing error, extending Duke's advantage to 4-0.
Duke added its fifth and final run in the top of the seventh after junior Aleyah Terrell came home on a groundout from redshirt sophomore Kairi Rodriguez. Terrell reached base on a fielder's choice before moving up on Baker's single through the left side.
Louisville used a sacrifice fly from Easton Lotus to push its lone run across the plate in the bottom of the seventh.

NOTES

Baker sent out her fifth home run of the season and 10th of her career.
The Longwood, Fla., native has homered in three straight games after tallying a solo blast in Friday's series opener and a two-run shot at East Carolina Wednesday night.
Malau'ulu reached the 100-career hit milestone with a base hit up the middle in the top of the sixth inning.
The Long Beach, Calif., native finished 2-for-3 during the contest with one RBI and one run scored.
Drogemuller earned her second win of the weekend, improving her record to 10-5 on the year.
The Blue Devils are 21-3 in games when scoring first this season.
Duke recorded its 15th contest with 10 or more hits.
The Blue Devils have won nine of the last 11 matchups against the Cardinals.

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils and Cardinals conclude the three-game set on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

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