Center fielder Evan Dougherty entered Friday's game against Ohio State with zero home runs in his Duke career.
He left with three.
The sophomore's trio of homers provided plenty of run support for junior Bailey Clark in an 8-1 victory Friday afternoon at TicketReturn.com Field. Dougherty finished 3-for-4 at the plate with five RBIs to carry the offensive load, as the Blue Devils jumped out to a big lead against the Buckeyes in their first game of the weekend's Baseball at the Beach tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
"He's not a home run hitter, but he's a guy who has some home run power," Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. "It was nice to see him get rewarded on some real good swings."
Duke jumped on the board with a pair of runs in the fifth, then added three in each of the last three frames. Junior catcher Cris Perez's two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning put a cap on Duke's fourth straight win.
Dougherty's explosive offense broke up a game that initially appeared to be shaping up as a pitcher's duel. The game was scoreless going into the fifth, with solid early performances from both Clark and Ohio State starter Adam Niemeyer. Although Niemeyer retired 12 of the first 14 Duke batters, Clark matched his counterpart, rebounding from a rough outing in his season debut against No. 10 California with 10 strikeouts in six innings. Clark scattered five hits and one walk in his first quality start of the year, holding Ohio State to just one run.
The Asheville, N.C., native had his full arsenal of pitches working Friday, locating his change-up and slider to complement his fastball.
"He had the good fastball and really good location, and he was really able to get dialed in on his offspeed pitches," Pollard said.
Duke's bullpen followed Clark's lead with some lights-out work of its own. Junior Karl Blum struck out three in two innings, and sophomore Jack Labosky finished out the game with a scoreless ninth.
The Blue Devils played error-free baseball for the second straight game Friday, giving Duke defensive support behind Clark.
"It was a really complete effort against a really good Ohio State team," Pollard said. "If you pitch and play defense like we've done through five ballgames, you give yourself a chance to win a lot."
Duke gets back on the field Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for noon against Liberty before taking on tournament host No. 19 Coastal Carolina Sunday afternoon.
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