The men's baseball team opened up its 2000 campaign to mixed results on Sunday when it split a double-header against the Georgetown Hoyas (1-1) at East Carolina's Harrington Field. The Blue Devils (1-1) lost the opener 5-3 before rallying to take the second game 9-2.
Duke opened game one in better fashion than it finished. In the first inning, Georgetown first baseman Eric Sutton put the Hoyas ahead, 1-0, on a single. But the Blue Devils came back and scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Those two runs came on an RBI double from third baseman Jeff Becker and an RBI single off the bat of first baseman Larry Broadway.
But Duke's 2-1 lead did not last long.
In the top half of the second, Georgetown designated hitter Josh Corman evened the game at two apiece with a single.
The Blue Devils made it through the third inning unscathed, but Georgetown scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning on a wild pitch from Duke starter Patrick Hannaway and an RBI single. Hannaway would finish the fourth to end his day.
The Blue Devils made things interesting in the sixth inning when leftfielder Gideon Thompson's sacrifice fly pulled to score to 4-3. But that was as close as Duke would get.
Georgetown scored its final run of the afternoon in the seventh inning to seal a 5-3.
The day was not a washout by any means, as the Blue Devils earned their first win of the season, and Hillier got his first victory as the Duke head coach, in the nightcap.
When a team scores nine runs, hitting is the obvious thing to look at, but this victory was very much a product of strong pitching.
Blue Devil starter Ryan Caradonna went five-and-a-third innings, allowing only one run on four hits to earn the victory.
On offense, the Blue Devils were boosted by impressive hitting, and some lackluster fielding from the Hoyas, who made eight errors in only six innings.
Duke opened up the scoring on an RBI single from Jeff Becker in the first. The Blue Devils scored two more runs in the second on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout from freshman catcher Troy Caradonna.
Duke went up 4-0 in the third on an error by Georgetown first baseman Sutton, and the onslaught continued.
The Blue Devils added two runs in the fourth on an error and a Brian Patrick single. The victory was assured with three insurance run in the sixth.
Eight Duke players had hits in the game, but the brightest note for the game was the performance of Troy Caradonna. The freshman catcher overcame an 0-for-4 performance in his first collegiate game to record a 2-for-3 performance in the second game, including a double and a pair of RBIs.
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