Duke baseball weekend recap

WINSTON-SALEM – Duke’s win of a series finale at Wake Forest was rarely comfortable.

But that matters little when you win two of three games on the road of your first ACC series — especially when it comes against the No. 1-ranked team in the country and the one that owned the regular season last year.

Duke beat Wake Forest 10-8 on Sunday at David F. Couch Ballpark, winning the first and third games of the series.

It’s the first time since 2009 that Duke has beaten a No. 1 team in a series. The Blue Devils backed up a strong non-conference start that saw a few gaudy run totals by winning two tight games, and dropping the middle game (breakdown of that below).

The Blue Devils (13-2, 2-1 ACC) jumped out to a 9-2 lead during a marathon fifth inning, scoring six runs in the top of the frame. They only needed two hits to put up that crooked number because five of the 14 walks they took came in that inning, including three with the bases loaded.

Wake Forest (12-3, 1-2) scored five in the bottom of the inning, the Deacons taking three walks and scoring on a walk, an infield single, a groundout and a two-run triple.

The Deacons got a solo homer from Adam Tellier, off of Jimmy Romano, in the sixth to get back to a one-run deficit. That was as close as it got, though.

Wake Forest put two runners on with one out in the eighth, and loaded the bases with two outs, before Owen Proksch struck out Seaver King.

Duke added an insurance run in the ninth on a two-out bloop single by Alex Stone, hitting the glove of second baseman Austin Hawke in shallow right field.

That run loomed larger when Duke closer Charlie Beilenson, who pitched three innings on Friday for a save, gave up a lost-ball triple to start the ninth and walked the game-tying run on the next batter.

To end the game, Beilenson struck out Hawke, Javar Williams and Cameron Gill.

It was Beilenson’s seventh save of the season, which leads the country.

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Here is a recap of the first game of the series. And here’s how the middle game went:

On Saturday night, the Blue Devils scored a couple of late runs but couldn’t get much offense against Chase Burns.

Burns (3-0) is the Tennessee transfer who throws 102 mph. He had 14 strikeouts in six innings, with Duke’s only damage against him coming Wallace Clark’s solo home run in the third inning.

That was part of a day in which the Blue Devils struck out 20 times.

Wake’s scoring all came against Andrew Healy, who gave up four hits and four walks. He gave up a two-run double in the first inning after three walks, and gave up a pair of two-run homers in the third.

Clark had a two-out, two-run double in the ninth, but that was as close as the Blue Devils got.

Duke’s bullpen combined for four shutout innings, with Jackson Emus pitching 1 2/3, Josh Allen recording one out, and Fran Oschell III pitching the final two, in which he allowed one hit and had four strikeouts.