The weekend began full of hope for the Duke baseball team as it welcomed back its ace pitcher.
Unfortunately, only the Blue Devils' bats were inspired, as they scored 24 runs in a two-game series with Navy, but gave up 16 to the Midshipmen to split the series at Jack Coombs Field.
Saturday marked the return of last year's Freshman All-American pitcher Scott Schoeneweis, who has had to overcome a battle with cancer in order to pitch this season. He was effective in limited action, as he pitched two innings and picked up the win as the Blue Devils (2-3) cruised 19-7 in the series opener.
He allowed five base runners and gave up three runs, although only one of them was earned. He also had three strikeouts.
"I was pretty pumped to be back out there," said Schoeneweis. "It's a slow comeback and I just tired out today. But I would quit if I didn't think I could regain my form."
The offense was able to more than overcome a two-run first inning deficit as six different Duke players hit home runs.
"The hitting seemed to be contagious today," said Duke head coach Steve Traylor. "Everyone was confident and relaxed at the plate."
Every Duke starter got at least one hit, led by junior second baseman Jeff Piscorik, who went 5-for-6 with two doubles, a homer, four RBI and four runs scored.
"I was just seeing the ball real well," said Piscorik. "I relaxed more [because of the big lead] and had fun."
Scott Pinoni, Sean McNally and Luis Duarte all had three hits, including a homer each, and contributed eight RBI between them.
The pitching was effective, although generous in giving up seven runs. Junior Craig Starman relieved Schoeneweis to start the third.
"I'm not worried about the pitching," Traylor said. "This was Scott's first game back and Starman had a great game and was able to keep them from any big innings. Schoeneweis' return gives a big lift to our program."
Both Traylor and Schoeneweis cited the crowd of 400 as a source of inspiration to the team. It was the largest home crowd of the season.
Among the crowd was Roger Staubach, ex-Dallas Cowboy quarterback and a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. He played baseball for four years while at Navy and came to see his son, Duke freshman Jeff Staubach, play against his alma mater. Roger Staubach was not disappointed, as he saw Jeff hit a home run in his first collegiate at-bat.
The major problem with the Blue Devils on Saturday was their defense, as they committed five errors, more than twice as many as they had committed all season.
Duke committed another three errors and blew two potential double plays in a 9-5 loss to the Midshipmen. Third baseman Sean McNally had two errors to give him five in his last three games.
With three losses already this season and a tough ACC schedule ahead of them, Traylor feels that the Blue Devils must improve on all aspects of their game.
"We're not the type of team that's going to win high scoring games," Traylor said. "We are going to have tight games all year, so we need more from our pitchers. [Sunday] we didn't get the job done [offensively] with two outs or with runners in scoring position, and we didn't make the plays [on defense]."
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