After being swept by Boston College last weekend, the Blue Devils came out firing against Campbell. The only problem—the Camels fired back.
Campbell fought back from an early deficit to beat Duke 9-6 Tuesday at Jack Coombs Stadium, extending the Blue Devils’ losing streak to four games. After scoring five runs in the first two innings, Duke registered just two hits in the next five frames, allowing the Camels to work its way back into the game.
Part of the visitors’ success was due to the inability of Blue Devil pitchers to close them out late in the count. Campbell scored four runs when its batters were down to their final strike, something the Blue Devils failed to do, as Duke ended the night with nine strikeouts to Campbell’s five.
“Credit Campbell, because they put on a clinic tonight,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “With two strikes, they were literally just trying to take the ball out of the catcher’s mitt. They fouled so many balls off over the dugout because they were really doing a good job of seeing the baseball deep and being in a position to spoil pitches. Then when they got their pitch, they didn’t miss it.”
During their winless weekend in Delaware, the Blue Devils (19-10) fell behind early in all three games against the Eagles. Tuesday, Duke made sure to draw first blood.
An error by Campbell shortstop Anthony Lopez allowed freshman Peter Zyla to score and put Duke up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. The Camels extinguished the threat, but the onslaught carried over to the second inning.
Freshman Jack Labosky led off the bottom frame with a double, and classmate Justin Bellinger reached on a walk. Labosky came home on a Max Miller single to push the Duke lead to 2-0. Zyla would then once again be the offensive catalyst for the Blue Devils, as he brought Andy Perez, Bellinger and Miller home on a three-RBI triple to give Duke a 5-0 lead.
“We were being aggressive early in the counts. That’s when we scored runs,” Perez said. “We did that the first couple innings. Pete came up with the big hit with the bases loaded. Then after that, we just started different styles at bat. They changed pitchers and took us out of rhythm a little bit. We scored five in the first two innings—you’ve got to keep pouring it on.”
The Camels (21-8) were determined not to be blown out and countered with seven runs in the final four innings.
After Campbell tagged Duke for a run in the top of the third on an error after freshman Michael Smiciklas mishandled a line drive from Cedric Mullins, the Camels came back in the fourth and seemed poised to make things interesting. Campbell continued to chip away at the lead, picking up runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings before exploding in the seventh.
Redshirt freshman James Ziemba struggled on the mound for the Blue Devils in the top of the seventh inning. The 6-foot-10 left-hander allowed a run after Mullins doubled, advanced to third and was brought home on a Steven Leonard sacrifice ground-out.
After picking up another out on a strikeout, Ziemba walked Seth LaRue and Cole Hallum and was replaced by Ryan Day. Day (1-1) did not fare any better, allowing three consecutive singles that plated three runs for Campbell. Sophomore Kevin Lewallyn came in for Day and stopped the bleeding, but by that time, Campbell owned a 7-6 lead, one it would add to as the Camels continued to swing the hot bat in the eighth.
“We got up and then we got very complacent,” Pollard said. “We didn’t stay hungry to push runs across the plate. Sometimes, our guys, because we pitch well, feel like five must be enough, or that’ll be enough for this ball game. But it’s not enough against a good offensive club.”
Lewallyn was pulled in favor of Karl Blum after allowing runners to reach second and third with one out. Blum would get out of the inning, but not before allowing Campbell to score two more runs and extend its lead to 9-6.
The loss was Duke’s first midweek defeat of the season, moving the Blue Devils to 7-1 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Last season, Duke was 8-5 in midweek contests.
“Up until this point, we’d been playing with a lot of confidence in the midweeks,” Perez said. “We’ve been ahead early and pitching the ball well, and tonight was a matter of not executing in the spots we need to.”
Duke will next head to Coral Gables, Fla., to face Miami for a three-game series starting Friday.
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