Photo by AUSL
DURHAM–Karlyn Pickens spent all of two days with the Carolina Blaze before she made her professional debut.
Yet, aside from a hiccup in the 2nd inning, she made the transition seamlessly.
The two-time Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year threw a complete game, striking out five as the Blaze defeated the Portland Cascade 11-2 in five innings at Smith Family Softball Stadium inside Duke University on Wednesday night.
Ana Gold, a former Duke All-American, went 3-for-3 and had two hits during a seven run third inning. Gold, the 2025 AUSL Rookie of the Year, had two hits in the third, including a two-run double that plated Aubrey Leach and Aleshia Ocasio.
The Blaze became the first team in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League to earn a series win this season. Carolina defeated Portland 4-1 on Tuesday in the season-opener.
Pickens, the #1 overall selection by the Blaze in May’s AUSL Draft, suited up for Carolina just nine days after throwing for the Tennessee Volunteers in the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. A two-time SEC Pitcher of the Year, Pickens said throwing in the SEC helped the transition to the professional game.
Seven of Portland’s ten starters played in the SEC, including former Texas A&M Aggies Tori Valdes and Kennedy Powell.
“The SEC prepared me a lot for what I was facing tonight,” Pickens said. “My pitching coaches and the amazing talent that I went against in the SEC prepared me well. It’s all about trusting your stuff and planning for yourself to have success.”
The Blaze are atop the six-team AUSL with a 2-0 record as they prepare to finish the three-game set against Portland on Thursday at 5PM.
On an otherwise forgettable night, Portland designated player Megan Grant launched a two-run home run that landed well up the hill amidst a group of fans watching from their lawn chairs in right field to give Portland its only lead at 2-1 in the third inning.
The Blaze followed with the highest scoring inning in team history. Gold started with a line drive to centerfield for a single. Deyvn Natz, a second-year first baseman from Arizona, plopped a single in front of Portland outfielder Kendra Falby to tie the game. After Jenna Laird reached on a fielder’s choice and catcher Reese Atwood walked to load the bases, McKenzie Clark sent a two-out grounder to third that went off the glove of Powell and trickled into centerfield. Kowalik and Laird each scored to put the Blaze ahead for good.
Ocasio delivered the Blaze’s first double of the season with a grounder that kept rolling until it reached the right centerfield wall, scoring Atwood and Kennedy and increasing the Blaze lead to 6-2 That ended the night for Portland starting pitcher Sam Landry.
Payton Gottshall, another former Tennessee pitcher, replaced Landry in the circle. Against her first batter, Gottshall was charged with an error off an errant throw on a ball sent back to the box by Leach. Gold stroked a two-run double to the left field fence to score the sixth and seventh runs of the inning.
Carolina would add three more in the fourth. Ocacsio dropped her second double into centerfield to score Valerie Cagle and McKenzie Clark, a rookie from Arkansas who also had a pinch-hit single in the second.
Former Orange High star Mia Davidson, the all-time leading home run hitter in Southeastern Conference history, is a member of the Cascade. Davidson, who led Orange to the 2017 3A State Championship, is currently playing with the Denso Bright Pegasus of Japan’s Diamond League and is expected to join the Cascade this month.
On Saturday, the Blaze will start a three-game series against the Texas Volts at noon in Durham.
