The baseball team's game against Campbell had more momentum swings than a Baptist sermon.
But the Methodists prevailed in the end Wednesday as Duke downed the Fighting Cmels, 9-8, at Jack Coombs Field.
Campbell, a school with Baptist affiliations, jumped to a one-run lead in the first inning but by the end of the second, Duke had a 3-1 advantage. The Blue Devils added two more in the fifth, but the Camels roared back with five in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead.
Duke regained the lead, 9-6, with a four-run eighth, and it was barely enough, as Campbell scored twice in the ninth.
"Nothing's easy--I'll tell you, every game is like this," Duke head coach Steve Traylor said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing or where we're playing, it's the same thing."
Duke improved to 11-9 on the year and is 1-2 in the Atlanic Coast Conference. Slumping Campbell fell to 5-19.
The Camels played much better Wednesday than their record might indicate. They out-hit Duke 15-11 and took their late-inning, 6-5 lead on Ray Spell's 390-feet grand slam home run off of reliever Ryan Jackson with two outs in the seventh inning.
Jackson, who had come in from centerfield to take the mound in relief of starter Scott Schoeneweis, was able to close out the inning. He pitched two complete innings to up his record to 2-3 for the season. Sophomore Jim Sander got the final two outs of the game to earn his first collegiate save.
"If pitchers are in slumps, I guess [Jackson's] in a little bit of one," Traylor said. "He's given up a few runs the last few innings he's pitched. But he's had so much success for us. He's a hell of a pitcher; He's just not pitching real well right now."
But Jackson and Schoeneweis pitched will enough to win, which is a little easier with an offense that puts up nine runs on the scoreboard.
"We know no lead is safe and we know no lead is insurmountable," Traylor said. "Fortunately for us this year, we have a good offensive team--it's a pretty explosive offensive team. If you pick a year to have one of those, this is the year for us."
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