Virginia falls in series finale with No. 13 Duke

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia softball team (22-19, 8-7 ACC) took the early lead, but fell behind after a big third inning from the Blue Devils in a 10-1 loss to No. 13 Duke (32-5, 14-2 ACC) on Sunday at Palmer Park.

Virginia got on the board first with a single run in the first as Katie Goldberg drove in Tori Gilbert who reached on a double to right.

Duke moved in front with a bases-loaded single that drove in two runs in the third, then capitalized on an error to bring a third run home. Another two-RBI single up the middle and a two-run home run pushed the lead out to 7-1 before Virginia would get out of the third inning.

The Blue Devils extended the lead with a three-run shot in the sixth inning to take the score out to 10-1. Virginia got a run back with a sac fly from Reece Holbrook in the home half, but nothing else as Duke took the series finale.

Molly Grube (0-2) took the loss in the start, allowing seven runs – two of them earned – on five hits in 2.2 innings of work. Grube walked one and struck out one.

Jala Wright (9-1) picked up the win with 4.0 innings of work, allowing one run on five hits with a pair of walks.

NOTES ON THE GAME

• Reece Holbrook drove in her second RBI of the season with a sac fly in the sixth inning.
• Virginia used two pitchers in the game as Madison Harris worked 3.1 innings in relief.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN

“These last couple of weekends and going into the next few weekends have been good for our pitching staff to learn a lot. One big inning was the difference and great teams will take advantage of mistakes and opportunities; that’s what happened in the third inning today. Our at bats were much more aggressive. We came out ready to go and stayed with it. Two of our toughest at bats came in the sixth inning down by eight and I’m proud of Reece Holbrook and Kate Covington for coming off the bench and have great at bats. Our goal is to turn the page quickly, have two great days of practice and go play hard in Blacksburg as we head into the home stretch of the season.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS

Virginia will go back on the road this week for a three-game series at No. 4 Virginia Tech. The series is set to begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday (April 14) and will run through Saturday.