Duke Softball Eyes Momentum in Midweek Clash at Elon After Strong Clearwater Showing
After two competitive weekends under the Florida sun, Duke Softball is headed back to North Carolina-though not quite home just yet. The Blue Devils will make the short trip to Elon on Tuesday for a non-conference showdown at Hunt Softball Park, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.
Duke rolls into the midweek matchup with a 7-3 record, fresh off a gritty run at the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. The Blue Devils went 3-2 over five games against a loaded field, and they didn’t just survive-they made a statement.
Friday featured back-to-back wins over top-15 opponents, starting with an 8-6 victory over No. 8 Texas A&M, followed by a 5-3 win over No.
12 LSU. They also notched a 9-6 win over Oklahoma State in a high-scoring battle, before dropping their final two games to No.
20 Georgia and Missouri.
At the heart of Duke’s offensive surge was senior Aminah Vega, who absolutely torched opposing pitching all weekend. Vega went 11-for-17 at the plate-a blistering .647 average-while driving in four runs and crossing the plate nine times herself. She was locked in from the jump and set the tone for the lineup.
Backing her up were redshirt junior Jessica Oakland and graduate student Tyrina Jones, who brought plenty of punch of their own. Oakland hit .455 (5-for-11) and Jones added a .400 mark (6-for-15), with the duo combining for 13 RBIs-nearly half of Duke’s total runs over the five-game stretch. With that kind of production from the heart of the order, Duke proved it can hang with-and beat-some of the best teams in the country.
Now they’ll look to keep that rhythm going against an Elon squad still trying to find its footing. The Phoenix sit at 1-7 on the year after a 1-3 showing at their own Phoenix Invitational last weekend.
Elon’s lone win came in emphatic fashion-a 12-1 run-rule rout of Mount St. Mary’s on Thursday.
Junior pitcher Anna Dew was the star of that game, notching a career-high 10 strikeouts. Offensively, Elon showed flashes of power, hitting six home runs during the tournament, including two grand slams.
Peyton Fitzpatrick and Payton Swart each went deep, while Teagan Baulsir, Mary Moss Wirt, and Swart all drove in five runs apiece. As a team, Elon batted .290 across the four games, with five players hitting over .300.
Tuesday’s matchup will be the 10th all-time meeting between the two programs. Duke holds a commanding 8-1 lead in the series and is 2-1 when playing on the road.
The last time these two met? A dominant 10-0 run-rule win for the Blue Devils in Durham last season.
Fans can catch the action live on FloCollege, with real-time stats available through Statbroadcast.
What’s Next for Duke?
After Tuesday’s tune-up, the Blue Devils hit the road again-this time heading west to Cathedral City, California for the prestigious Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, running Feb. 19-22.
It’s another gauntlet of elite competition, with five games on the slate, including matchups against three 2025 Women’s College World Series participants: Oklahoma, UCLA, and Oregon. Duke will also face Texas A&M again, along with Hawaii.
It’s a stretch that could tell us a lot about this Duke team. But first, they’ll look to take care of business in Elon-and keep the bats hot.