CHARLOTTE, NC (theACC.com) – Duke’s Amiah Burgess and Virginia’s Shelby Barbee were named the Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Co-Players of the Week, while Syracuse’s Lindsey Hendrix earned her first Pitcher of the Week honor of the season.
Burgess powered Duke’s offense to a 5-0 week, featuring a three-game sweep over NC State. The freshman finished the week batting 8-for-13 (.615) with two home runs, seven RBI and eight runs scored. In Tuesday’s 14-1 win over Gardner-Webb, Burgess went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBI from an RBI-single and a two-run blast over the left-center field wall. The League City, Texas, native led the Blue Devils’ offense again on Saturday to help clinch the series win over the Wolfpack. She went 2-for-3 with an RBI single and another two-run home run to drive in three of Duke’s six runs. On Sunday, Burgess drove in a key insurance run in the top of the seventh inning to help Duke secure the series sweep.
Barbee’s week was critical for Virginia as the Cavaliers captured their seventh ACC series of the year with the series win at Georgia Tech. She hit .667 on the week and led UVA with her 6-for-9 performance, three home runs, eight RBI and four runs scored against the Yellow Jackets. The junior recorded her first career multi-home run game with two bombs on Friday night in the series opener, tying the game at 2-2 in the fourth inning before tying the game again at 5-5 with her two-run blast in the sixth inning. On Saturday, Barbee hit a three-run homer in the fourth as part of an 11-run inning and scored twice as the Cavaliers evened the series at one-all. Sunday’s series finale was highlighted by the game-tying run in the sixth inning off of Barbee’s sac fly and her eighth RBI of the weekend that proved to be the deciding run in the seventh inning of the 4-3 series-clinching win.
Hendrix led Syracuse to its first series win against a top-15 opponent in program history, as the Orange defeated No. 15 Virginia Tech twice over the weekend. The senior went 2-0 in the circle, throwing a pair of complete games, allowing just three runs, only one earned, on nine hits while striking out five batters. The lefty out of Orlando, Florida, recorded a 0.50 ERA while holding the Hokies to a .176 batting average to pick up his career-best 11th win of the season. With the 2-1 win on Friday, Syracuse beat Virginia Tech for the first time since March of 2018 and picked up its first win over a top-25 team since April 2022 when the Orange defeated No. 11 Duke.
Duke is ranked No. 5 in the nation in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. Virginia Tech is No. 13, followed by Florida State at No. 16 and Clemson at No. 22. Virginia is receiving votes.
2024 ACC Softball Player of the Week
Feb. 13 – Rachel Castine, Jr., Virginia Tech
Feb. 20 – Mallorie Black, Sr., Georgia Tech
Feb. 27 – Sanaa Thompson, Fr., North Carolina
March 5 – Lexi Godwin, Gr., North Carolina
March 12 – Emma Ritter, Sr., Virginia Tech
March 19 – Claire Davidson, Sr., Duke
March 26 – Cameron Fagan, Sr., Virginia Tech
April 2 – Aminah Vega, So., Duke
April 9 – Mallorie Black, Sr., Georgia Tech
April 16 – Cameron Fagan, Sr., Virginia Tech
April 23 – Jaysoni Beachum, Fr., Florida State
April 30 – Amiah Burgess, Fr., Duke | Shelby Barbee, Jr., Virginia
2024 ACC Softball Pitcher of the Week
Feb. 13 – Jala Wright, Sr., Duke
Feb. 20 – Rylee Wyman, NC State
Feb. 27 – Eden Bigham, So., VA
March 5 – Jala Wright, Sr., Duke
March 12 – Cassidy Curd, So., Duke
March 19 – Regan Spencer, Sr., Clemson
March 26 – Madison Harris, Sr., Virginia
April 2 – Regan Spencer, Sr., Clemson
April 9 – Cassidy Curd, So., Duke
April 16 – Eden Bigham, So., VA
April 23 – Eden Bigham, So., VA
April 30 – Lindsey Hendrix, Sr., Syracuse
