No. 20 Duke Splits Day One of Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

Thursday, February 19

Cathedral City, Calif.

8:30 p.m.

Duke University

8-3

Texas A&M

7-4

Texas A&M

Duke

softball home run celebration versus Hawaii

No. 20 Duke Splits Day One of Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

2/20/2026 4:39:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – No. 20 Duke softball (9-4) split its two games on day one of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Big League Dreams Sports Complex in Cathedral City. The Blue Devils suffered an 11-5 setback to No. 11 Texas A&M (8-4) in the opening contest before rebounding in the nightcap against Hawaii (5-6) with a 9-6 victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. NO. 11 TEXAS A&M

Texas A&M jumped ahead in the top of the first, using a solo home run from Ariel Kowalewski, a groundout and a base hit down the right field line to take a 3-0 lead.
An RBI-single from redshirt junior Jessica Oakland in the bottom half to cut the deficit to 3-1. Her knock scored senior D'Auna Jennings, who reached on an infield single before moving to third on a wild pitch and an Aggies' throwing error.
The Aggies posted another three-run frame in the third, highlighted by a two-run home run from Micaela Wark and a solo shot by Maddie Sauni, pushing their advantage to 6-1.
Texas A&M tacked on an additional run in the fourth after capitalizing on a pair of Blue Devil errors and a sacrifice fly to right field to create a 7-1 gap.
Duke began to chip away in the bottom of the fifth when graduate student Jada Baker launched a solo home run to left field, her first of the season, trimming the lead to 7-2.
After the visitors added a pair of runs in the sixth, redshirt junior Kairi Rodriguez answered with a solo homer to center in the bottom half to make it 9-3.
The teams traded runs in the final frame, but Duke was unable to recover from the deficit and fell 11-5 in the end.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. HAWAII

After a scoreless opening two frames, graduate student Tyrina Jones finally broke through and gave the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead in the top of the third with a two-run blast to right center field.
Hawaii added a run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead in half, 2-1.
The Blue Devil offense responded with an explosive six-run fifth inning. Baker, Jennings and Vega opened the frame with three straight infield singles to load the bases. Jones drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Oakland added an RBI single. Sophomore Layla Lamar delivered the big swing of the inning, blasting a three-run homer to left center. Redshirt junior Kairi Rodriguez followed with a solo home run to pull away 8-1.
The Rainbow Wahine sparked a comeback late in the game, using a Jamie McGaughey's grand slam and an RBI-single from Maycen Gibbs to pull within two heading into the final frame.
Freshman Gabriella Shadek provided the insurance run in the top of the seventh, ripping an RBI-double down the left field line to score Lamar from second and seal the 9-6 victory.

NOTES

Senior Cassidy Curd was tagged with her first lost of the season after working the first 2.2 innings against the Aggies. She moves her career ledger to 50-16 overall.
Redshirt freshman Ava Bradshaw earned her fourth start of the season in game two versus Hawaii. Bradshaw was credited with the win, allowing five runs off six hits while fanning a game-high five batters in 4.2 innings of work.
Junior Larissa Jacquez picked up the third save of her career after 2.1 innings of relief against Hawaii. She limited the Rainbow Wahine to just one run while scattering six hits and striking out two.
Duke launched five home runs on the day, including a pair of solo home runs from Rodriguez.
Jones recorded her fifth multi-RBI performance of the season while Oakland and Lamar each tallied their third.

UP NEXT
Duke meets a pair of top 10 opponents in No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 9 UCLA on day two of the invitational Friday. The opening game with the Sooners is set for 4 p.m. while first pitch with the Bruins is slated for 9 p.m.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils softball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeSOFTBALL"

#GoDuke

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Next Event

Oklahoma

Feb 20 (Fri)

4 p.m.

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Peters, Sidne (4-0)

L: Curd, Cassidy (4-1)

Texas A&M

Batting:

2B: Vrazel, Frankie 1 ; Edwards, Tallen 1 ; Kowalewski, Ariel 1

HR: Wark, Micaela 1 ; Perez, Mya 1 ; Kowalewski, Ariel 1 ; Sauni, Maddie 1

RBI: Wark, Micaela 4 ; Dement, KK 1 ; Perez, Mya 2 ; Kowalewski, Ariel 2 ; Sauni, Maddie 1

SF: Wark, Micaela 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Powell, Kennedy 1 ; Groce, Annsley 1 ; Golden, Hailey 1 ; Allen, Paislie 1 ; Wark, Micaela 1 ; Perez, Mya 2 ; Edwards, Tallen 2 ; Kowalewski, Ariel 1 ; Sauni, Maddie 1