CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Niners will begin their final road stretch of the regular season with a midweek matchup against a ranked Duke team in Durham at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday (April 21).
DATE AND LOCATION
» April 21
» Smith Family Stadium // Durham, N.C.
» ACCNX
» Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
Charlotte
Charlotte began last week with a 6-0 win over Winthrop at home that included three home runs, one from Jenna Lord and two from Teagan Ritchie. With the two-homer game, Ritchie continues to lead the Niners in home runs, now with 12 on the season. In Tuesday’s game, Avery Shamblin saw work in the circle, pitching three scoreless innings and recording her first save of the season.
Last weekend, the Niners were hurt by slow starts both in the circle and at the plate. Wichita State outscored Charlotte in a three-game conference series 33-10 and gave up 19 runs in the first innings alone. Charlotte will look to improve in that area this week, beginning with Tuesday’s match-up before hopping back into conference play.
Jenna Lord had a good week at the plate, batting .545, including two homers and increasing her overall batting average to .441 on the season. London Dirks also maintained her on-base streak, which is now sitting at 26 games.
Duke
Duke enters Tuesday’s match-up sitting at 35-12 overall and 18-3 in ACC play. The Blue Devils are currently ranked 17th in the NFCA coaches’ poll and 14th in the ESPN poll. With a win over #7/#9 Tennessee last week and three demanding wins over Boston College in conference play, Duke will likely see a higher ranking on Tuesday before the evening matchup.
Last week, the Blue Devils began the week with a 6-3 win over No. 7 Tennessee before smashing Boston College in three straight games for the weekend conference series. Duke outscored BC 46-12 across the three games.
SERIES HISTORY
Charlotte and Duke have matched up nine times, dating back to the Blue Devils’ inaugural season in 2018. The Blue Devils lead the head-to-head 8-1 and ride a seven-game win streak against the 49ers.
TEAM LEADERS
Charlotte
Jenna Lord continues to lead the Niners in several offensive categories. Lord leads the team in hits (64), average (.441), and slugging (.793). Lord also leads the team in multi-hit games with 17 and in runs scored with 47.
Audrey Wilson continues to lead the team in RBI with 42. Jenna Lord has 35, and Teagan Ritchie has 32. Ritchie leads the team in homers with 12, Lord sits at 11, and Wilson sits at nine. Charlotte has hit 44 homers on the season, with eight different players contributing. All eight players who have hit a home run have hit more than one. The 2026 team is now sitting at fifth in program history for most homers in a single season.
In the circle, Taylor Jones leads the team in innings pitched with 109.2, while Brooke Bowling and Jones lead the team in wins with nine each. Aubrey Yarnall is back leading the team in ERA at 3.85, while Jones is sporting an ERA of 3.96. Brooke Bowling leads the team in strikeouts with 68 and earned her 200th career strikeout against Radford earlier in the season.
Duke
Aminah Vega leads Duke in batting average (.474) and slugging (.961) with a total of 40 extra base hits on the season, 15 of which are home runs. Tyrina Jones leads the team in RBI with 69 and leads the team in home runs with 19 on the season. Duke has three players batting over .400 and four players who have hit double-digit homers.
In the circle, Cassidy Curd leads the team in innings pitched at 117.1 while Ava Bradshaw leads the team in ERA at 4.01. The Blue Devils have five players who have pitched at least an inning, with all pitchers sitting between a 4.00 and 5.00 ERA.
TEAM STAT BY STAT COMPARISON
Batting Average
Charlotte – .304
Duke – .354
Slugging Percentage
Charlotte – .477
Duke – .631
RBI
Charlotte – 234
Duke – 325
Home Runs
Charlotte – 44
Duke – 87
ERA
Charlotte – 4.87
Duke – 4.46
Strikeouts
Charlotte – 155
Duke – 217
UP NEXT
Following Tuesday’s game, Charlotte will continue its road stretch for a three-game series against in-conference UTSA April 24-26 in San Antonio.
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