Duke sweeps doubleheader, only allows one run
Duke started its baseball season with doubleheaders against Maine on each of the first two days.
After splitting the first day, the Blue Devils swept the Black Bears on Saturday to start the season 3-1.
It’s a solid start to the tenure of first-year coach Corey Muscara, who was hired after Chris Pollard’s departure to Virginia.
Here’s a recap of both games on Saturday:
Duke 3, Maine 0 (7 innings)
In the first game, Ben Dean (1-0) pitched the last five innings of a shortened game and allowed one hit and two walks, with nine strikeouts.
Dean is a transfer from Dayton. He threw 80 pitches across his five innings of work, inducing four flyouts and a groundout (along with the strikeouts). Aiden O’Connell started on the mound, pitching two innings and allowing one hit and one walk.
Duke’s runs came on a sacrifice fly by Ben Petrone and an RBI single by Michael DiMartini in the fourth inning, and then on Adin Zorn’s RBI single in the fifth.
Zorn was 2-for-3, Duke’s only multi-hit performance of the game. A double by Jake Lambdin was the Blue Devils’ only extra-base hit.
Duke 7, Maine 1
In the second game, Duke scored in five of the first six innings and again, only had one extra-base hit.
That was a two-run home run by Brooks Perez in the fifth inning, which gave the Blue Devils a 6-1 lead.
Cider Canon scored on a double steal in the first inning. Canon was 3-for-3 and had an RBI single in the fourth.
RJ Hamilton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second. Duke’s third run of the game scored on a bases-loaded balk.
Zorn had an RBI groundout in the sixth for Duke’s final run.
Five Duke pitchers combined to allow one run on five hits, with 10 strikeouts. Andy Leon started and allowed Maine’s lone run in three innings of work. Jack Hedrick pitched four innings in relief, striking out five and walking three.
Drew Bryan retired four batters, three via strikeout, and walked three. Roman DiGiacomo and Grayson Walker each recorded one out.
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