The Duke baseball team launched eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to turn a lethargic, low-scoring game into a 16-8 blowout against the North Carolina A&T Aggies Wednesday at Jack Coombs Field.
The score was tied 1-1 at the start of the bottom of the fourth inning before Bryan Smith belted the ball out of the park for a solo home run and gave Duke a 2-1 lead. Not to be outdone, the next Blue Devil batter, Tim Layden, knocked in his own solo shot, pushing the lead to 3-1.
"We've been waiting to break out and swing the bats like we did today," Smith said.
Two batters later, Mike Miello whacked the ball off the left-field wall for a triple. But the pretty play soon ended as the rest of the scoring in the inning stemmed from the Blue Devils taking advantage of walks, wild pitches and errors before the last of Duke's eight runs for the inning came from a two-RBI single by Drew Jerdan.
The woes continued for the Aggies in the bottom of the fifth, as Miello led off the inning for Duke by safely arriving to first base after a wild throw by shortstop Eric Jones. Larry Broadway brought him home a batter later with an RBI double, which was followed by a two-run home run by Jerdan.
Soon after, Troy Caradonna--the owner of Duke's highest batting average with a mark of .356--got into the mix with a double. He was brought home after Smith hit an RBI double on his near perfect day, which included four runs, three hits and three RBI from his four at bats.
By the end of the fifth inning, the score was 14-1, and the Blue Devils had caused A&T to use three pitchers.
Duke coach Bill Hillier felt it was a combination of poor play by the Aggies and great play by his players that led to the monster fourth and fifth innings.
"They weren't pitching well, and we made them pay," said Hillier. "The balls we hit, we hit hard."
The Blue Devils came into the game on a hitting slump, having only five home runs before Wednesday. Duke had four home runs against A&T alone, but it was no surprise to Hillier.
"I wasn't panicking [about the slump]," Hillier said. "I told my guys that [runs] would come in bunches, and they did."
The Blue Devils dominated on the defensive end during this stretch as well, with the day's starting pitcher, Jeff Alleva, giving up zero earned runs and only two hits in his five innings of work.
The remainder of the game proved to be a bit disappointing for Duke, especially in the ninth inning when it gave up five runs after holding a 16-3 lead.
"I think we just got a little complacent," Smith said. "I think we relaxed too much, and didn't play like we were capable of."
Broadway agreed with his teammate's assessment.
"I was pretty aggravated," he said. "We've got to get guys in there to get strikes. But we had a 13-run lead. It's tough not to get a win in that situation."
Duke plays its next two games at home against Elon this weekend. The games will start at 5 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday. The two teams then face off at Elon Sunday at 2 p.m.
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