After a 13-3 win Friday and an 8-6 loss Saturday, the Duke baseball team fought its way to a gritty 3-2 victory over Army at Jack Coombs Field Sunday afternoon.
With the game tied in the eighth inning, J.J. Koterba led off with a hard liner up the middle and wound up on second after Army centerfielder Caleb Love misplayed the ball. After Duke’s second failed sacrifice bunt attempt of the game and a long flyout by Brett Bartles, Eric Baumann came to the plate having struck out looking in his previous two at-bats. With a 3-1 count, he sat on a hanging curveball and roped a single between the shortstop and third baseman to knock in the eventual game-winning run.
“Obviously I had a tough decision to leave Baumann in after he struck out looking twice,” head coach Bill Hillier said. “He’s proven that he has been a good hitter for us, and he stepped up and had two RBIs for us today.”
Starting pitcher Danny Otero retired the first nine hitters he faced and pitched eight solid innings, allowing only five hits and one earned run. The Blue Devils (6-6) have struggled to provide Otero with adequate run support so far this season, leaving him with a 2-2 record despite an impressive 1.44 ERA.
“I know one day I’m going to have a tough time out on the mound, and they’re going to pick me up and score 10 runs,” Otero said. “I know it’s just a matter of time, and I just have to keep making good pitches and do my job.”
Duke’s defense—the team’s Achilles’ heel heading into Sunday—was Otero’s greatest ally in the early innings. Infielders Bryan Smith and Koterba made difficult defensive plays in the top of the first to send the first three Army (1-5) hitters back to the bench in order. Shortstop Adam Murray laid out for a diving stop in the top of the second and quickly sprung to his feet to gun out the runner at first.
“I got off to a decent start because my infielders made great plays in the first innings behind me and boosted my confidence,” Otero said. “After that, I just kept making pitches, and they kept finding infielders. They were making plays behind me.”
Duke had jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as Baumann’s single to left scored Murray. The Blue Devils added a second run in the third when Bartles hit a single to right to score catcher Ron Causey.
Bartles, who was 1-for-4 on the afternoon, extended his hitting streak to 12 games. The freshman continued his fantastic play hitting 5-for-12 at the plate over the weekend. He leads the team in hits (22), RBIs (15), total bases (27), on base percentage (.531) and has a .500 average in 44 at-bats.
Army fought back from the early 2-0 deficit by scoring runs in the fourth and seventh innings.
Hillier was pleased with his team’s improved defense and the strong performance of his pitching staff, but remains concerned about the Blue Devils’ inability to play small ball and advance runners in key situations.
“We had a couple of times we didn’t get a sac down,” he said. “I told the guys after the game that you can’t make those kinds of mistakes in conference play, but two of the three games we played were pretty clean.”
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