After just half an inning, it appeared that Duke had a dangerous threat on its hands with Campbell, who put men on third and second base before flying out to end their turn at the plate.
With a powerful swing and the loud smack of bat on ball, however, sophomore Nate Freiman emphatically sounded the onset of the Blue Devils' offensive attack with a towering home run.
And as senior Jonathan Anderson continued to puzzle Campbell batters, the Fighting Camels faced the grim reality that Duke had quickly defused any hope of an upset.
Duke (26-17) blasted three home runs and gave up just eight hits as the Blue Devils dominated the Fighting Camels (9-34) 12-0 Tuesday night at Jack Coombs Field.
The margin of victory ties the highest of the year, and for the first time all season, Duke not only put together a complete game, but also was dominant in doing so, junior Jimmy Gallagher said.
"I would say it was our most complete game," head coach Sean McNally said. "Our guys pretty much across the board played well."
Every Duke hitter except Jonathan Foreman reached base safely, and five batters finished with multiple hits. Freiman and Gallagher, however, stood out the most.
Freiman added a home run seventh inning that just barely cleared the fence to finish with four RBIs off three hits.
Gallagher came up a triple short of hitting for the cycle and nailed a home run into right field so deep that the outfielder did not even move once he saw the ball hit.
"I've had a few five-hit games in my career and this one ranks right up there as one of the best," Gallagher said. "Offensively it was one of our better performances."
In that decisive first inning, all nine hitters went to the plate. Gallagher started by lacing a single into right field on just the second pitch. Anderson followed with a popup to left field, and sophomore Matt Williams hit a line drive straight up the middle to advance Gallagher to third. The Freiman stepped up to the plate, and his home run began the onslaught.
"It's nice to be able to score in the first inning because that gives our pitcher confidence," Freiman said. "One thing Coach [McNally] talks about is scoring first, and whenever we can score first that really gives us momentum going into the rest of the game."
The barrage would not let up for several innings, as Duke added three runs in the second inning and two in the fifth.
Equally impressive as the hitting was the Blue Devils' pitching. Anderson went five innings and allowed just five hits while walking none. Will Currier came in middle relief to give up just one hit over two innings, and Ron Causey and Ryan Perry came in to close the game out for an inning each.
"We had a nice night, and it's real fun to see everyone swinging the bats," Freiman said. "It's good to be able to enjoy a night like this."
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