Giving up the first runs of a mid-week baseball game in the top of the third inning wasn’t the best of signs for Duke.

Scoring seven runs in the bottom half of the inning made things better.

That’s how Duke rolled to an 8-4 win against Appalachian State on Tuesday night at Jack Coombs Field.

The Blue Devils (25-14) picked up their ninth straight mid-week win — Duke is 16-5 in non-conference games this season — behind a four-RBI game by first baseman Jake Hyde and three-hit games by Wallace Clark and AJ Gracia.

Ryan Calvert (4-0) gave up App State’s (19-17) two runs in the top of the third, one run on a double and the other on a double play groundout.

Sam Harris started the scoring with a one-out, solo home run in Duke’s bottom of the third. Gracia had a two-run double to give the Blue Devils a lead, and Tyler Albright’s RBI double made it a 4-2 game.

Hyde’s three-run homer was the cherry on top of Duke’s big inning.

Duke’s bullpen put up four doughnuts after that, holding it at a 7-2 score. Those innings were pitched by Mark Hindy, Max Stammel, Gavin Brown and Collins Black — each of them pitching one shutout inning.

Hyde added an insurance run with an RBI double in the seventh, and App State got one run each against Gabe Nard and Ryan Higgins in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

Duke’s eight-man pitching effort — Kyle Johnson pitched the first two innings and retired the Mountaineers in order in both frames — combined to allow seven hits and three walks, with 14 strikeouts.