Duke sandwiched blowout wins around a two-run loss in winning a baseball series against Bucknell this weekend.
The Blue Devils won the Friday and Sunday games by a combined 35-2, but dropped the middle game 8-6. By the end of the weekend, Duke had a 6-5 record with two more games – against UMass Lowell on Tuesday and Wednesday – before the ACC slate begins next weekend.
Here is a quick recap of each game this weekend:
Duke 17, Bucknell 1
Chris Davis went 4-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored, and Andrew Yu was 3-for-4 with four RBI in Duke’s series-opening rout.
Duke’s lead was only 2-1 after three innings, but the Blue Devils scored in each of their final five at-bats with a combined 10 runs coming in the seventh and eighth innings.
Marcus Johnson (1-2) picked up his first win of the season by pitching six innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk. The junior righty struck out a career-high 12 batters.
Bucknell 8, Duke 6
This game was tied 6-6 after four innings and the only other scoring was Brendan Lowery’s two-run homer in the seventh that won the game.
All six of Duke’s runs came via homers – solo shots by R.J. Schreck, Chris Crabtree and Graham Pauley, and a game-tying three-run homer by Damon Lux in the fourth.
Bucknell’s Graeme Carroll earned the win by pitching a scoreless final three innings.
Duke’s Luke Fox and Josh Allen gave up all eight runs; John Natoli and Aaron Beasley combined for a scoreless final three innings.
Duke 18, Bucknell 1
Duke’s seven-run second inning and five-run fourth allowed the Blue Devils to cruise in the series finale.
Alex Mooney, Pauley and Schreck combined for 10 hits and 11 RBI. Mooney was 4-for-6, while Pauley and Schreck were both 3-for-5. Mooney and Schreck drove in four runs apiece.
Billy Seidl earned the victory on the mound, pitching six innings and only allowing two hits and two walks, while striking out eight. Matt Dockman, Jonathan Santucci and Jimmy Loper combined for three relief innings, giving up one hit and striking out five.
