The Duke baseball team (13-18), which built a commanding 6-0 lead early in its game, held on to defeat the Davidson Wildcats 6-3 at Jack Coombs Stadium last night.
Left-hander Ryan Caradonna (4-6) secured the win for the Blue Devils, throwing six shutout innings, while Justin Dilucchio pitched the ninth inning for his first career save.
Of course, this save looked like it could have been in doubt only a few moments before the end of the contest, as Dilucchio, who entered the game for reliever Jeff Alleva, loaded the bases with only one out. However, after being rattled early in the inning, the freshman demonstrated poise to close it, striking out Davidson outfielder Jeremiah Parvin on five pitches and then forcing shortstop D.J. Dailey to fly out to leftfield to conclude the game.
The end-of-game composure displayed by Dilucchio-Duke's fourth pitcher of the evening- was reassuring to coach Bill Hillier, who worried that his team might suffer a late-game collapse to the Wildcats (16-18), just as it did last year on a ninth-inning grand slam. Duke's second-year coach was delighted, though, that his freshman pitcher eventually benefited from such a tense late-game situation.
"It's good for a freshman to be out there with the bases loaded and the game on the line, knowing that he's got to get it done or get taken out," Hillier said. "I'm pleased with [Dilucchio's performance]."
Surely, Hillier was happy with the performance of one of his upperclassmen, rightfielder David Mason, as well. The senior, who went only 1-for-7 from the plate in last weekend's series against Maryland, broke out of his recent slump by going 3-for-4, including an RBI single that gave Duke its first run in a four-run second inning.
One inning later, Mason knocked a triple to deep right-centerfield that scored Blue Devils first baseman Larry Broadway and increased Duke's lead to 5-0.
"[Davidson pitcher Derrik Wolpert] got behind in the count early, so I was just sitting for a dead-red fastball right down the middle and he gave it to me," said Mason of his smash to the wall. "I just took my best hack at it."
The Blue Devils might not see as many advantageous opportunities in their next series. This weekend, perennial College World Series contender Georgia Tech comes to town for a three-game set. Game 1 of the series will take place tomorrow at 7 p.m.
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