s02BaseBy IVAN SNYDER
The men's baseball team started its season out on the right note Saturday, with a sound 11-6 win over the Furman Paladins, and the Blue Devils finished off the sweep of the Paladins on Sunday holding on for a 10-9 victory.
In Saturday's game Furman kept the game close for the first seven innings, but Duke pulled away in the bottom of the seventh on a bases loaded, three-run double to left-center by sophomore second baseman Michael Fletcher.
Strong relief pitching by senior southpaw David Darwin combined with some clutch hitting by sophomore catcher Gregg Maluchnik secured the win for the Blue Devils.
Darwin got the save by pitching three innings-giving up only one hit, two runs, no earned runs, walking one and striking out seven, three of which were the last three batters in the game.
The first-time closer used his vicious curveball to retire the side in the ninth inning, catching two batters looking and the other swinging for the seats.
"Darwin was extremely impressive," head coach Steve Traylor said. "He's been a starter here for three years and we need to improve our performance late in games. He can help us do that."
Maluchnik also turned in a stellar performance in the cleanup spot, going 3-for-4 with one walk, and hitting a key solo home run in the first inning, extending Duke's lead to 3-1.
Furman scored the first run of the game in the top of the first after sophomore second baseman Eric Boehmer doubled to left field on senior starter Craig Starman's first pitch of the game. Sophomore first basemen Jim Morrill sent him home three batters later on another double to left field. Starman then retired the inning by striking out junior centerfielder Brandon Hollier.
Duke answered Furman in the bottom of the first, taking a 3-1 lead on a one-run triple by junior shortstop Frankie Chiou, with freshman centerfielder Jordan Litrownik avoiding the tag at the plate. Chiou then scored on a sacrifice fly, and Maluchnik brought in another with his solo dinger.
Furman closed the gap to 3-2 in the top of the second on a fielder's choice by the pitcher. Catcher Maulchnik was unable to turn around for the tag after a high throw from Starman.
Furman tied the score in the top of the third when Hollier was caught in a rundown at first and senior leftfielder Eric Placko stole home.
The Blue Devils took the lead again in the bottom of third when sophomore centerfielder Adam Geis walloped a three-run triple to deep left field, making the score 7-3.
In the top of the fourth, Furman scored another to make it 7-4 on Boehmer's third hit of the game, a single to centerfield. He was 3 for 5 on the day.
The Paladins closed the gap again in the top of the seventh, though. Placko started the rally with a towering double to right field which the rightfielder lost in the sun. Placko advanced to third on a wild pitch by junior reliever Richard Dishman, who was subsequently pulled from the game in favor of Darwin after he walked Morrill.
Placko scored on a grounder to first, and Morrill scored when Darwin gave up a single to Furman's senior centerfielder Danny Leibach. Darwin retired the rest of the side with strikeouts, leaving the score at 7-6.
Darwin got support from the Blue Devils bats as senior rightfielder Mike King and Maluchnik hit singles and freshman John Benik walked, loading the bases for Fletcher's double to make the score 10-6.
Duke extended its lead to 11-6 in the top of the eighth, when Litrownik, after reaching on a single through the hole, stole home on a wild pitch with Furman reliever Matt Dickson dropping the throw to the plate.
On Sunday the Blue Devils jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held on for the win as the Paladins rallied to make it close. Senior Scott Schoeneweis got the win for Duke, while sophomore Clayton Connor came in for the save.
Ice storms and bad weather in Durham delayed the Blue Devils home opener from last Saturday versus University of North Carolina-Asheville. Traylor was pleased with his team's performance all things considered.
"We played a very sound game considering we've only been out on this field half a dozen times," Traylor said. "The weather messed us up badly."
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