Duke baseball weekend recap
Blue Devils win first two, can’t finish off sweep in opening weekend
Duke’s baseball team ran through a gamut of emotions in its first three games of the season.
The Blue Devils (2-1) won a blowout to begin their season, won a tight game with a late-inning run to clinch the series against Saint Joseph’s, and then lost in extra innings in the series finale.
These were the first three games of a 16-game homestand that begins the season for the Blue Devils; they’ll play host to Liberty on Wednesday before welcoming Baylor to Durham Bulls Athletic Park next weekend.
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Here is a quick recap of each game this weekend:
Duke 16, Saint Joseph’s 0
On Friday, seven of Duke’s nine starters drove in at least one run, led by Alex Stone’s three-run home run in the first inning that started the season on a high note.
The Blue Devils blew the game open with the five-run 5th, getting RBI singles by Jay Beshears and Josh Solomon, a couple of Duke’s seven transfers new to the team.
Duke scored twice more in the 6th and had a five-run 8th that cushioned the season-opening blowout.
Luke Storm, Beshears and Stone, forming Duke’s 2-3-4 hitters, were a combined 6-for-11 with nine runs scored, six RBI and three extra-base hits.
Jonathan Santucci got the shutout effort started on the mound with four innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out nine. Freshman lefty Owen Proksch relieved him with three innings, allowing one hit and one walk, and another freshman, Gabriel Nard, pitched the final two innings.
Duke 2, Saint Joseph’s 1
On Saturday, Damon Lux hit a sac fly to score Beshears in the bottom of the 8th to clinch the series win.
Beshears, who had three of Duke’s seven hits, led off the 8th with a single and moved up on a throwing error and wild pitch. Lux’s sac fly went to deep centerfield and was the second out of the inning.
Duke’s other run came on a single by Beshears that drove in Alex Mooney in the 1st.
Adam Boucher pitched four scoreless innings to start the game, striking out five and allowing two hits and two walks. Charlie Beilenson recorded a pair of 1-2-3 innings in relief, and then Saint Joseph’s tied the game against Ryan Higgins.
Freshman James Tallon recorded the save, striking the side in the 9th while working around a one-out single.
Saint Joseph’s 5, Duke 4 (10 innings)
On Sunday, Saint Joseph’s scored the game-winning run on a groundout by Ryan Cesarini in the 10th inning.
The Hawks led 4-0 after four innings, as Duke used a by-committee approach to pitching the final game of the weekend.
Duke rallied in the form of a three-run 6th; the first run was scored on a balk, and then Storm hit a two-run homer.
The Blue Devils tied the game in the 9th on Devin Obee’s pinch-hit double, which scored MJ Metz from first base. Obee’s hit came with two outs and was on an 0-2 pitch. Obee reached third before Saint Joseph’s escaped the inning.
Duke got a two-out single by Stone in the 10th, but he was stranded there to end the game.