In a season full of headaches, injuries and slumps, Ed Conrey's bat has been one of the constants in keeping the baseball team's ship afloat.
Yesterday afternoon at historic Jack Coombs field, Conrey continued his binge at the plate, driving in three runs to lift Duke to a 6-2 win against the Davidson Wildcats and even its record at 20-20.
"He's a big-time hitter, there's no doubt about it," coach Steve Traylor said. "How he's being surrounded in the lineup is so much different from last year. He hasn't seen many good pitches, but he's going in there and coming up with many big hits for us. He's really coming around and we can hardly get along without him being productive."
And it didn't take long for Conrey's bat to get going. With runners on second and third in the bottom of the first inning, Conrey lashed a sharp grounder that kicked up off the first baseman and trickled into right field. Although both Vaughn Schill and Ryan Caradonna scored on the play, Conrey was awarded one RBI due to the error on the first baseman.
Taking a rare midweek start, lefthander Chris Capuano (5-3, 4.78 ERA) kept the Davidson hitters off-balance and off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. Despite hitting three batters for the second game in a row, Capuano rarely found himself in trouble, giving up only four hits in five and two-thirds innings.
"I felt good today, I kept the ball down, and the fielders did a good job of making all the plays," Capuano said. "I've been pretty good with my control. Occasionally a ball gets away from me and I hit a guy-that's a part of the game."
In the fifth inning, Conrey drilled his team-leading sixth triple of the season into the right field corner, plating Caradonna with the Blue Devils' fourth run of the game. Kevin Kelly brought in Conrey one batter later with a liner over the shortstop.
The Wildcats clawed their way on to the scoreboard in the sixth inning, chasing Capuano after he hit his third batter of the game. Newly converted outfielder Kyle Beauchamp came on in relief and pitched two-and-a-third effective innings to keep Davidson at bay.
Leading off the seventh, Conrey belted the first offering from Jeff Case over the right field fence for his seventh dinger of the season. His third RBI of the day helped Conrey overtake Kelly for the team RBI lead with 35, and his two hits improved his average to .323.
"I asked [Caradonna] what [the pitcher] threw him," Conrey said. "He said it was a first-pitch breaking ball. So I was up there looking for something up in the zone and he hung a breaking ball, and I put a good swing on it.
"I honestly feel like I'm in a groove; I'm seeing the ball well. I just have to be patient and get some good pitches to hit."
Note: Wes Goodner, currently hitting .342 with 31 RBIs, was not present due to a death in the family before the game. The sophomore outfielder will not rejoin the team for its weekend series at Clemson.
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