Marissa Young calls on Duke to reset in tight ACC Championship quarterfinal

Duke and Boston College‘s ACC Championship quarterfinal remains at a stalemate as both teams still remain scoreless through five innings at a 0-0 tie.

Eagles pitcher Abby Dunning and Duke’s Jala Wright have been getting the job done on the mound, striking out batters while their defenses have also made timely plays behind them. While hitters have been struggling to generate offense in their plate appearances.

Duke head coach Marissa Young joined the ACC Network broadcast ahead of the bottom of the fourth inning, asked how the top-seeded Blue Devils have been looking to stay sharp after not playing in 11 days.

“Well, first we had to refresh and regroup after a tough week of finals and then tried to do as much live as possible to try to mimic a game as possible to mimic a game,” Young said. “But obviously as you see, a little bit of a slow start today and we’ve just got to keep fighting and find ways to adjust.”

The Blue Devils earned the No. 1 seed following an impressive 44-6 regular season finish with a 20-4 record versus conference competition. With Young taking home the ACC Coach of the Year award and her ace pitcher Jala Wright being named the ACC and Pitcher of the Year.

Wright got the start versus Boston College on Thursday, getting off to a little bit of a slow start before regaining her composure and recording nine strikeouts through five innings. Met in the circle by Young after walking a batter for a conversation that clearly flipped the switch.

“Sometimes you just known when you need to slow Jayla down or give her that tip and she always fires right back. So just telling her to settle down, not nibble in that situation. She’s got a great defense behind her and just attack the hitters,” Wright explained.

Wright has been doing Wright things as she stacks up strikeouts in the ACC Tournament, but there’s no question that she’s also been getting help from her teammates. Like outfielder Amiah Burgess throwing out Boston College’s Hannah Slike at home plate with a timely throw from left field, stopping what would have been the first run of the game. Which Burgess followed in the next inning with a spectacular diving catch.