DURHAM, N.C. – The Notre Dame softball team, behind a stellar performance from shortstop Addison Amaral, knocked off 17th-ranked Duke 6-5 Saturday in the final road game of the season. The Irish now have five ranked wins (#15 Missouri, #23 San Diego State, #22 Virginia twice, #17 Duke) and are 21-26-1 on the year and 7-14 in ACC play.
Amaral was unconscious at the plate. The sophomore notched her second career multi-home run game of her young career. She hit a 2-run home run in the top of the first and a second 2-run home run in the top of the sixth, both giving the Irish the lead. The sophomore shortstop now has nine homers on the year (one off her total from last season) and 43 runs batted in.
How it happened
It didn’t take long for the Irish to strike early. For the third straight game, Notre Dame struck in the first inning. With Emily Tran on first following an infield single, Amaral blasted a two-run homer to dead center field, her eighth of the season, to give the Irish an early 2-0 lead.
Shannon Becker made her sixth start of the season in the circle for Notre Dame. She tossed an inning of scoreless relief on Friday night, but allowed a run in the bottom of the first. Irish lead 2-1 after the opening frame.
After an inning of no runs, Micaela Kastor took over in the circle for Becker in the third. Kastor was coming off a complete game effort in last night’s game. She threw a scoreless bottom of the third after Rachel Allen picked off the runner at first to end the inning.
The Blue Devils knotted the game at two in the bottom of the second on an infield single to first. The game was all squared through four innings.
The game tilted Duke’s way in the bottom of the fifth. After a double play was overturned that would’ve got the Irish out of the inning, a double to right center by KK Mathis gave the Blue Devils its first lead of the game, 3-2 after five innings.
The lead didn’t last long. Amaral stepped back into the box and demolished her second two-run home run to left field, a no-doubter to put Notre Dame back up 4-3.
The Irish put up two insurance runs in the top of the seventh. An O’Brien sac fly scored Caitlyn Early for the fifth Notre Dame run. One batter later, Tran ripped a ball through the right side to score Olivia Levitt to make it 6-3 Irish.
Kastor came back out for the bottom of the seventh, going on her 11th inning in the past two days.
The Blue Devils made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh. Duke…