The baseball team was seen streaking again on Friday.
Duke started the season with a 16-game winning streak before a recent slump in which it lost nine out of 10.
Now the Blue Devils have reversed the trend again by winning three in a row, including a 13-8 victory over Davidson in 11 innings on Friday. With the win, Duke avenged a 6-4 loss to the Wildcats (17-24) on April 12.
Friday, senior Luis Duarte led off the 11th by blasting the first pitch from Davidson's Brian Cole out of the park to give Duke the winning margin. The Blue Devils then exploded for four more runs in the inning while batting around the order off of three pitchers.
Duarte led the Blue Devils (28-18) by going 5-for-7 and hitting two homers to double his season total.
"[The home run in the 11th] was the first time in my life that I knew, as soon as I hit it, that it was gone," Duarte said.
Freshman Berry Brooks picked up his first collegiate win by pitching two scoreless innings.
Duke appeared to have the game wrapped up after scoring twice in the top of the ninth to edge ahead, 8-5. The Blue Devils scored on a pair of errors by Wildcat shortstop Jeff Andrews and with the help of three walks, but they did not connect for a single hit in the inning.
Andrews made up for his mistakes in the bottom of the ninth when he ripped a three-run homer off freshman reliever Jim Fishburn to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
"I just left a pitch up, and the guy hit a home run," Fishburn said. "That tied it up, but luckily we came back to win."
Duke started off the game strongly, scoring three in the first. But the Wildcats came right back with three of their own in the third inning.
The Blue Devils recaptured the lead in the sixth when Duarte led off with his first home run of the game. Duke scored again in the inning when Gregg Maluchnik drove in Frankie Chiou with a double.
Davidson threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with just one out. However, Davidson only managed one run, as Fishburn came in to strikeout Brian Krehmeyer and end the threat.
But Fishburn was not as fortunate in the ninth, giving up a soft single through the infield and a bloop double before Andrews' shot.
Overall, Duke's offensive output of 16 hits and 13 runs was its best since it routed Howard 17-8 on March 29 with 18 hits. The key to the Blue Devils' offense may have been the play of the top of the lineup. Duarte and ChiouDthe one and two hittersDgot on base 11 times by collecting hits and walks.
"We were definitely hitting the ball better than we have in a while," Duarte said. "A lot of guys did a good job getting on base, and other guys had timely hits."
With the winning streak, the Blue Devils have regained the confidence they lacked during their slump. They are now only two wins away from the esteemed 30-win plateau with 10 games left before the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
"Even when they tied it up [in the ninth], we were still confident that we would win the game," Duarte said. "We're just looking to keep playing well, and if we get to 30 winsDthat's great. But if we don't win 30 but play well, that's okay."
The Blue Devils return to action today at 3 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field to battle the Monarchs of Old Dominion.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.