Duke baseball's rubber-match shutout wins series against Hokies

Duke’s weekend got off to a disappointing start, but for the second straight series after topping then-No. 2 N.C. State last Sunday, the Blue Devils finished strong.

Despite losing 4-3 in 11 innings Friday night to Virginia Tech at English Field at Union Park, No. 12 Duke outscored the Hokies 13-0 in the last 12 innings of the series to win the last two games of the weekend in Blacksburg, Va. The Blue Devils followed up an 11-5 victory Saturday with a 7-0 shutout Sunday, fueled by a spectacular start for senior Ryan Day.

Duke (33-11, 15-8 in the ACC) fell into an early 2-0 hole in the first inning Friday night before sophomore Adam Laskey settled in for a quality start. But the Blue Devils’ bats did not wake up until the eighth inning, when junior Griffin Conine tied the game at three with a two-out, two-run double.

Graduate student Ethan DeCaster shut down Virginia Tech (18-26, 8-16) for three frames out of the bullpen, but the Hokies took immediate advantage when he left the game at the start of the 11th inning. Bryce Jarvis walked the leadoff batter, and after a sacrifice bunt and a pitching change, J.D. Mundy slapped a walk-off single with two outs off freshman Matt Dockman.

The second game of the series was tied at five before four Duke players walked and another was hit by a pitch in a three-run seventh inning. Junior catcher Chris Proctor broke it open with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, the Blue Devils’ third long ball of the game after freshman Joey Loperfido and Zack Kone both hit solo home runs.

Duke seized control earlier in Sunday’s rubber match to clinch the series, scoring four runs in the fourth inning when its first four batters reached on singles or doubles and senior Jack Labosky launched a home run to cap the inning. That was all the offense the Blue Devils needed, as Day breezed through seven shutout innings and DeCaster and Labosky recorded the last six outs, but Conine added insurance with a deep 2-run homer in the top of the seventh to cap the day’s scoring.

Duke will take the week off for exams before returning to its on-campus home at Jack Coombs Field for a doubleheader against Gardner-Webb next Sunday.