The NC State softball team split its doubleheader against Duke Saturday afternoon, winning 2-1 and losing 8-1 at Duke Softball Stadium.
The Wolfpack (24-22, 5-12 ACC) took the first game in extra innings, but an eight-run second inning by the Blue Devils (24-26, 11-9 ACC) doomed the Pack in the second game.
Freshman right-hander Sydney Nester got the start for NC State in the first game and turned in one of her best outings of the season, tossing nine complete innings and allowing just one earned run on three hits, striking out six batters but having to pitch two extra innings due to a lack of run support from the offense.
An RBI single by freshman shortstop April Visser got the scoring going in the top of the first inning, but after Duke answered back with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning, the two teams traded zeros on the scoreboard for seven innings in a row.
Sophomore left fielder Sam Russ reached first base on a fielder’s choice in the top of the ninth inning, and after a two-out single from junior right fielder Brigette Nordberg advanced her to third base, the speedy Russ stole home to score the eventual winning run in the Pack’s 2-1 victory.
Nordberg (2 for 4, BB) and Visser (2 for 4, RBI) led a Wolfpack lineup that had seven hits but struggled to string those hits together, streanding 10 runners on base and striking out 12 times.
In the second game, Visser launched a solo home run to right field to put the Wolfpack up 1-0 in the top of the second inning, but the Blue Devils quickly knocked junior right-hander Devin Wallace out of the game.
After a clean first inning, Wallace let up a leadoff home run in the bottom of the second, and back-to-back base hits forced NC State to its bullpen, where senior right-hander Brittany Nimmo couldn’t find much success either. Wallace and Nimmo let up seven runs before sophomore right-hander Kama Woodall came in, allowed a solo home run, and then stopped the bleeding, holding the Blue Devils scoreless the rest of the way.
NC State’s bats couldn’t get anything going again in the second game, reaching base just five times courtesy of three hits and two walks.
The Wolfpack will return to action in the rubber match of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Duke Softball Stadium in Durham.
