Blue Devils Outlast Notre Dame, 5-4, in Series Opener

Thursday, April 17

Durham, N.C.

6 p.m.

Duke University

Notre Dame

Blue Devils Outlast Notre Dame, 5-4, in Series Opener

4/17/2025 11:53:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 19 Duke (33-13,13-6 ACC) held on for the 5-4 victory over Notre Dame (20-25-1, 6-13 ACC) in the conference series opener Thursday night at Duke Softball Stadium.

The Blue Devils' offense was led by multi-hit nights from senior Ana Gold, redshirt sophomore Kairi Rodriguez and sophomore Amiah Burgess. Rodriguez and Burgess finished 2-for-3 at the plate while Gold went 2-for-4 during the contest. Gold and Rodriguez also combined to drive in all five of Duke's runs.

Cassidy Curd earned the win inside the circle, throwing her ninth complete game of the season. The junior surrendered four runs off seven hits with a pair of walks in 7.0 innings of work. Curd also fanned a game-high eight batters during the contest to push her past the 450-career strikeout milestone.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Notre Dame was quick to spark its offense after Rachel Allen sent a two-run home run over the right field wall in the top of the first to put the Fighting Irish ahead 2-0.
The Blue Devils answered in the home half with a three-run blast from Gold and a solo shot off the bat of Rodriguez to take the lead, 4-2. Gold's long ball also brought in graduate student Thessa Malau'ulu and junior Aminah Vega after reaching on back-to-back base hits.
In the top of the third, Allen broke through again for the Irish, slipping a two-RBI single into center field to knot the score at 4-4.
Rodriguez plated the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI-double to right center field, scoring Gold from second and pushing the Blue Devils ahead, 5-4.
Notre Dame's offense wouldn't quit in the top of the seventh, moving a baserunner into scoring position using a walk and a groundout. Two batters later, Addison Amral sent a two-out single into the center field gap but junior D'Auna Jennings launched the throw home for Rodriguez to make the play at the plate and hold off the game-tying run for the final out.

NOTES

Gold recorded her 11th home run of the season, while Rodriguez tallied her fifth.
Gold finished with three RBI on the night, marking her 13th multi-RBI performance on the year.
Curd moves her season ledger to 13-7 after 31 appearances in the circle.
Junior KK Mathis extended her hitting streak to a team-high 10 games.
As a team, Duke recorded its 13th multi-home run game of the year and has tallied at least one home run in 12 of its last 13 games.

UP NEXT
Duke and Notre Dame continue the three-game set Friday night at Duke Softball Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra with Raine Wilson and Chris Hooks on the call.

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