The only thing better than the weather Wednesday night at Jack Coombs Field was the Duke offense.
Brett Bartles and Nate Freiman combined to drive in eight runs in the middle of the order as the Blue Devils cruised to an 11-5 victory over Davidson.
The Blue Devils (12-26) scored seven of their first eight runs with two outs, finally showing the clutch hitting needed to drive in runs that they have lacked for much of the season.
"We did a great job making them earn that last out every inning," head coach Sean McNally said. "That's something we keep track of-two-out RBIs-and we did a great job tonight with it."
Duke showcased its situational hitting when it broke the game open in the second inning. With one out and the bases loaded, the Blue Devils' ninth batter, Daniel Palmer, hit a dribbler down the third-base line-his first of four hits on the night-that Wildcat catcher Alex Entrekin could not handle to begin the scoring. One out later with the bases still loaded, Bartles hit a sharp single into center to plate two more runs for a 3-0 lead. Bartles moved to second on the throw home and scored on Freiman's two RBI single to right for a 5-0 advantage over the Wildcats (12-21).
The Blue Devils added another in the third on Adam Murray's two-out single to right field. The following inning, Freiman laced a two-out triple to score Bartles and later crossed the plate himself on a Davidson error to give Duke an 8-0 lead.
Bartles and Freiman combined to spark another rally in the seventh. Bartles drove in Jimmy Gallagher with a double to right before Freiman knocked in his fourth and fifth runs of the game with a double down the left field line.
"Hopefully [Bartles and Freiman] can feed off each other at the top of that lineup and we can see more of that," McNally said. "Those were good swings."
Freiman has brought a presence to the middle of the Blue Devil lineup since his return from an injury two weeks ago. In his eight games back, the freshman has hit three home runs and driven in 14 runs.
"He certainly can give a big help to the middle of the order," McNally said. "He's made it easier for some of the other guys to swing the bat, too, knowing we have another guy in there that can really swing it."
Duke senior Sean O'Brien (1-0) got the win in his first career start, pitching three scoreless innings while allowing only one hit. Michael Kaufman (0-4) took the loss for Davidson.
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