Ted Cruz made headlines at Liberty Monday, but the following afternoon the Blue Devils stole the show and cruised to a season sweep.
Duke defeated the Flames for the second time this season 3-1 at Liberty Baseball Stadium Tuesday afternoon. Decisively, the Blue Devils went 2-for-3 with runners on third and less than two outs. Liberty would go 0-for-2 in the same situations, as Duke forced the Flames to finish the game 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-9 in two-out hitting.
“[I’m] very, very proud of our team,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “It was an opportunity for a lot guys to step in...and guys really answered the call.”
Duke (19-6) scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third, when freshman Michael Smiciklas hit a two-out RBI triple to the right-center gap, his second extra base hit of the game.
On the mound for the Blue Devils stood his roommate—freshman starter Luke Whitten. Whitten retired eight of Liberty’s first nine batters in the game, and picked off Will Shepherd at first to get his first out of the fourth inning.
“[Whitten] was really throwing well, and Liberty hadn’t figured him out through three innings, so we decided to send him back out in the fourth,” Pollard said. “I don’t think we intended going into the game to throw Luke Whitten 3.2 innings.”
The next batter, though, recorded a base knock and would come home on a one-out Andrew Yacyk double. Yacyk then took third on a throwing error, standing just 90 feet away from giving Liberty the lead.
But the Blue Devil pitching staff would hang in.
Whitten turned a bunt attempt into an easy out that did not advance Yacyk. Redshirt senior Dillon Haviland then came into the game and forced Dalton Britt to ground out to short for the third out. The score remained knotted at one.
“Dylan did a great job of getting us all off the field in the fourth,” Pollard said. “We started the game where it was, it was 1-1 at that point, he came in and executed really well and got us back in the dugout.”
The following frame, with one out and Nick Salisbury on first, Aaron Stroosma laid down a bunt that Blue Devil relief pitcher Ryan Day threw away, allowing Salisbury to take third. For the second straight inning, the Flames (14-9) were set up with a runner on third and only one out.
Then emerged more crunch-time hitting woes for Liberty. First, Ashton Perritt struck out, and next Shepherd—a .100 hitter with runners in scoring position—flew out to right, ending the inning and allowing Duke to escape the most trouble it would see the rest of the way.
Most importantly, the game was still tied.
In the top of the sixth, with one out, Justin Bellinger walked and Grant McCabe singled him to third. Jack Labosky then broke the game open with a sacrifice fly to center, putting the Blue Devils ahead 2-1.
“We did a good job situationally today,” Pollard said. “We didn’t bang it all around the ballpark, but when we got our opportunities, for the most part, we did a good job of taking advantage of them.”
Dominant Duke relief pitching from Day, James Ziemba, Chris McGrath and Mitch Stallings would result in the Blue Devils allowing just one hit and no runs throughout the next three innings, setting the visitors up for a third run.
In the top of the ninth, with no outs and runners on second and third, Max Miller hit a sacrifice fly—Duke's second of the day—to give the team a 3-1 lead. After Stallings closed the book and sealed a two-hit, 5.2-inning shutout performance by the bullpen, the Blue Devils walked away victors the fourth time in five tries.
“They’re competing very well,” Pollard said. “I was really impressed watching them today, just with how well they competed, in what is a tough environment to play in.”
Duke will look to even its record to .500 in the ACC against Boston College, as it hits the road again this weekend for a three-game stand in Newark, De.
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