The baseball team lost one streak but quickly started another this weekend. No. 13 Duke (17-1) snapped a 15-game winning streak, falling to Liberty Friday at historic Jack Coombs Field, 12-2. Duke returned to sweep VMI yesterday.
"[Liberty] just flat out beat us," coach Steve Traylor said. "They had five home runs. They outhit us and outpitched us."
The Flames (6-1) grabbed an early lead, scoring six unanswered runs in the first four innings.
After a little over three innings, sophomore Brad DuPree relieved losing pitcher Brent Reid, who gave up five runs in 3.1 innings. The change didn't silence Liberty's bats, though, as DuPree allowed six runs on seven hits.
Duke finally got on the board when Wes Goodner crossed home on John Benik's single in the bottom of the fifth. It added another run when third baseman Jeff Becker scored on left fielder Michael Fletcher's RBI single in the eighth.
The Blue Devils made a comeback Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader against VMI.
Duke jumped out to a 7-1 lead in four innings in the first game on home runs by Vaughn Schill and Ed Conrey. Schill was 2-for-4 and Conrey 2-for-3 in the first game, with three RBIs apiece.
In his second appearance since injuring his collarbone in Duke's first game of the year, Adam Geis recorded the Blue Devils' final run with a homer in the bottom of the eighth.
"He was swinging the bat well in the preseason," Traylor said of Geis. "He's got good speed; he's a great defensive player. He's got good power-I think he had eight home runs last year, so he's going to add a lot to our lineup."
Jim Wendling pitched a complete game to come away with the win, allowing seven hits, four runs and four strikeouts in the 8-4 victory.
After a slow start in the second game, Duke came alive in the third inning en route to a 14-2 win. Trailing 2-1 with Becker and Conrey on base, Geis bunted the ball to drive Becker in and even the score. Fletcher and catcher Gregg Maluchnik each drove in a run with a triple and single, respectively.
"You get one good inning, and it leads to another good inning," Conrey said. "Hitting's contagious, and once certain guys started hitting well and getting confident, everything seemed to spread."
The Blue Devils scored five runs each in the fourth and fifth innings. Geis hit his first triple of the year to bring in two runs in the fourth, followed by a single from Fletcher and Maluchnik double.
Right fielder Jordan Litrownik led off the fifth with a double, followed by base hits from Schill, Becker, Conrey and second baseman J.D. Alleva. Conrey went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs.
The game was called after five innings due to college baseball's new 12-run rule.
Patrick Hannaway picked up the win in the second game with four hits, two runs allowed and three strikeouts on the afternoon.
The Blue Devils next host UNC-Wilmington Tuesday at 3 p.m.
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