With three of Duke's top four hitters from last season gone, the Blue Devils were left wondering how to replace that offensive firepower.
After four consecutive games of double-digit outputs, however, the Blue Devils batted those questions into the ground.
In back-to-back doubleheaders over the weekend, Duke racked up 50 hits and 47 runs in defeating Iona 10-2, 10-0, 10-1 and 17-5 at Jack Coombs Field.
The 47 runs scored are the most in a four-game period during head coach Sean McNally's three-year tenure at Duke.
"A lot of it has to do with how we prepare," outfielder Jeremy Gould said. "We just execute how we plan to do it. We try and square the ball up as much we can."
Gould and first baseman Nate Freiman paced the Blue Devil offense, driving in seven and nine runs, respectively, over the weekend. Freiman also had two home runs in the third game and Gould added one in the first game of the series.
For the majority of the weekend, Duke (4-0) never faced a serious challenge from the Gaels (0-4). In the fourth inning of the second game Sunday, however, the team found itself in its first potentially dangerous situation.
A five-run third inning had given the Blue Devils a 7-4 lead. Starting pitcher John Bunder, however, had struggled up to that point. The freshman had given up four runs on five hits and saw many of his pitches hit deep into the outfield by Iona batters.
The troubles continued in the fourth inning. After inducing Chris Leahy to ground out to second baseman Gabriel Saade, Bunder's 2-2 pitch was drilled by Dylan McCullough to the hot corner and third baseman Ryan McCurdy could not handle the ground ball. When Bunder then gave up a line drive to left field on the following pitch, McNally lifted him for sophomore closer Michael Seander.
Seander, who recorded 14 saves as a freshman, was rarely used before the eighth inning last year. McNally, however, said he felt Seander needed to be out there to preserve Duke's lead.
Seander walked the first batter he faced, loading the bases with just one out. But he regained his composure and got the next batter to ground out back to him and then struck out Andrew Passerelle, ending the Gaels' biggest threat of the weekend.
The closer pitched 2.2 innings in his only appearance of the weekend.
"It was important to get ourselves into some tighter situations where we had to execute," McNally said. "That was the pivotal point."
The Blue Devils turned their tightest game of the series into its largest margin of victory in the late innings, when they scored two runs in the seventh inning and then six more in the eighth.
In the first game, Duke scored seven runs in two innings to turn a 3-2 lead into a 10-2 final as Gould's three-run homer highlighted the outburst.
Starting pitcher Will Currier allowed just two hits, recorded six strikeouts and surrendered just one walk in six innings to lead the Blue Devils in the second game, 10-0.
Freiman's two homers and seven RBI propelled Duke to its 10-1 victory in the third contest.
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