Duke baseball weekend recap
Blue Devils win series against Princeton in final non-conference weekend before ACC play begins
Duke dropped the first game of a three-game series against Princeton this weekend, but slugged out wins in the next two games to win the series.
It was the Blue Devils’ final non-conference series until a final exam break in early May. Duke plays host to Appalachian State and Northeastern on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, before opening ACC play next weekend against Wake Forest, which is undefeated and in the top five of most polls.
Duke is 8-3 to open the season, having won six of the last seven games and holding a run differential of 97-21 over that span.
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Here is a quick recap of each game this weekend:
Princeton 7, Duke 3
On Friday, Princeton snapped Duke’s four-game winning streak by stranding 12 Blue Devils on the basepaths.
Duke didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning until the eighth and ninth, leaving a combined seven runners on base in the first three innings. The Blue Devils had 10 hits, drew three walks and had three hit-batters.
Princeton got a two-run home run by Kyle Vinci in the 1st off Jonathan Santucci, and broke a 2-2 tie with Jake Koonin’s solo homer in the 5th. The Tigers added a couple of runs in the 7th and 9th to pad the lead.
Alex Mooney, Luke Storm and Andrew Fischer all had two-hit games for Duke. Santucci gave up five hits and two walks, along with recording nine strikeouts.
Duke 21, Princeton 2
On Saturday, Duke’s bounce back wasn’t immediate, but it was forceful in the rubber game of the series.
The Blue Devils blew open what was a 2-1 game with 19 runs combined in the 5th-through-8th innings. Jay Beshears vaulted Duke into a bigger lead with a grand slam, with Storm and Santucci adding three-run homers in the late innings.
Storm was 3-for-5 with five runs and four RBI; Mooney was 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBI; Alex Stone was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Duke combined Adam Boucher (2 1/3) and Jason White (3 2/3) to get through the first six innings on the mound. They combined to allow one run on six hits and six walks, with Boucher recording strikeouts on five of the seven outs he notched.
Duke 12, Princeton 5
On Sunday, Princeton led 5-3 after three innings but a seven-run 4th swung the pendulum toward a runaway Duke win to clinch the series.
Every run in Duke’s 4th was scored with two outs, and the first run was scored when Storm reached on a throwing error. Beshears followed that up with a two-run double, with Stone driving in a run with a single and Tyler Albright driving in two more with a double.
The final run of the 4th scored on a double steal. Storm added an RBI double in the 5th and the Blue Devils tacked on one more run with Fischer’s sac fly in the 8th.
Ryan Higgins and Gabriel Nard were roughed up as Duke’s first two pitchers, but freshman Aidan Weaver (1-0) pitched three hitless innings to earn the win. He had one walk and four strikeouts.
Fran Oschel III and James Tallon combined for the last four innings, with Oschel allowing two hits and two walks, and Tallon retiring all four batters he faced.