It was a small window, but Duke managed to fit nine innings of solid play in between winter storms Wednesday.
After Tuesday's home game against UNC-Greensboro was canceled due to inclement weather, the Blue Devils routed N.C. Central 12-1 at Jack Coombs Field. Duke used a rotation of eight pitchers to limit the Eagles to four hits on the day, as the Blue Devils cranked out 15 hits of their own to power past their neighbors.
“I’m incredibly proud of our bullpen effort,” head coach Chris Pollard told GoDuke.com following the game. “I’m especially proud of our seniors—Dillon Haviland, Sarkis Ohanian and Conner Stevens. Those guys didn’t pitch over the weekend and they came in and were ready today. That showed a ton of leadership. The other thing that impressed me was the guys who hadn’t pitched yet in Luke Whitten and Ryan Day. They really attacked the strike zone. Those guys are going to back out there soon.”
Although the end result was a blowout, N.C. Central came out strong in the top of the first, as it drew first blood when Eric Kimber scored on a wild pitch after singling, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt and stealing third. But that would be as much success as the Eagles would have all day.
Stevens picked up the win for Duke after tossing two innings—the most of any Blue Devil pitcher. The redshirt junior struck out a game-high three batters and retired all six Eagles that he faced in his time on the mound.
The pitching staff didn't need much breathing room, but the Blue Devil bats made sure there their teammates had more than enough run support. Nine separate Duke players picked up hits, with third baseman Jack Labosky leading both teams by going 4-for-5 at the plate. Senior second baseman Andy Perez was the most opportunistic of the Blue Devils, as he picked up three RBIs with a pair of hits.
But it was junior shortstop Kenny Koplove that came through to bust the game open for Duke.
Leading 2-1 in the bottom of the third, the Philadelphia native came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Koplove roped a line drive down the left field line, bringing all three runners home and boosting the Blue Devil lead to 5-1.
Duke scored at least one run in every inning except the eighth, by which time it had secured the winning score of 12-1 and replaced most of its starters.
“We had a bunch of great at bats,” Pollard said. “Kenny had a huge at bat with the three-run double. That was a huge moment because that’s an either-way ballgame at that point and that made a huge difference, a dagger there with two outs.”
Winter Storm Quantum rolled through Durham Wednesday night, dropping seven inches of snow on Duke's campus, canceling Thursday classes and postponing Friday's game against Rider. Saturday and Sunday's contests against the Broncos are to be played as scheduled, and the teams will look to make up the canceled game as part of a doubleheader this weekend.
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