No-hitter highlights 4 weekend victories for baseball

The Duke baseball team took some batting practice at the expense of Maryland-Eastern Shore this weekend, ringing up a total of 49 runs in three victories over the Hawks.

The Blue Devils annihilated their clearly overmatched opponents, winning by scores of 16-0, 18-1 and 15-0. Head coach Steve Traylor was able to empty his bench early in all three games, allowing some of the more inexperienced members of the team to get some playing time.

"I got everybody in the game, and because of that we were able to make some changes in our lineup that I think down the road are going to help us defensively," Traylor said.

The most significant of those changes was the insertion of freshman Jeremy Horowitz into the starting lineup at shortstop. Horowitz capitalized on his opportunity, going 4-for-6 for the weekend while also scoring six runs for the Blue Devils. In addition, Horowitz was one of three Duke players who bashed home runs this weekend, striking a solo shot over the left field fence in the first game. Adam Geis and Gregg Maluchnik also homered for the Blue Devils.

"[Horowitz] is obviously a very good player," Traylor said. "He's got all the tools that you look for."

Frankie Chiou, who moved to second base to make room for Horowitz, was nearly flawless over the weekend, going 8-for-10 with 10 RBIs for Duke. The Blue Devils piled up a mountain of offensive statistics on the Hawks, banging out a total of 50 hits against the hapless Maryland-Eastern Shore pitching staff. Mike King's seven RBIs and Jordan Litrownik's seven runs were among the most impressive numbers in the series.

Duke was impressive on the mound as well, allowing only five hits and one run over three games. The performance was capped in Sunday's game when Rich Dishman, Jim Fishburn and David Darwin combined for a no-hitter against the Hawks. Sophomores Clayton Connor and Stephen Cannon were also outstanding for the Blue Devils. Both Connor and Cannon picked up wins over the Hawks in Saturday's double-header.

"Obviously, that's not a very good hitting team," Traylor said. "The point that we're making with our guys is that we need to go out and get work, and we need to throw strikes. Guys were throwing strikes consistently, and that bodes well for us."

Head coach Steve Traylor said its an "awesome sight" to see Schoeneweis return to his old self.

"To see his consistency time after time going out and having good stuff and doing the job, that is very heartening," Traylor said. "He threw very well against Campbell. He just happened to be pitching a game where we didn't score any runs."

On Friday, the Duke bats made up for their lack of support during Schoeneweis' last start against Campbell.

Sophomore second baseman Michael Fletcher turned in a stellar performance in the ninth spot going 3-for-3 including one RBI that came on a double to deep left field in the bottom of the fifth inning, making the score 8-1.

Although VCU scored first in the top of the third on a double by junior outfielder Cordell Farley, the Blue Devils quickly answered in the bottom of that inning with five runs off of a triple by senior left fielder Michael King and a single by freshman first baseman John Benik.

Duke secured its win in the bottom of the fifth on Fletcher's one-run double and a one-run single by sophomore centerfielder Adam Geis.

"We played a solid game. We've been playing very consistently," Traylor said. "This is jut another page in the chapter really in the way we've been playing."