First baseman Nate Freiman missed 18 games with a midseason injury and only returned last weekend. Now, he's making up for lost time in a big way.
The junior slugger continued a torrid streak at the plate, finishing 4-for-6 with three runs and three RBI as the Blue Devils (26-12) pounded Campbell 16-2 Wednesday night in Buies Creek.
The productive night capped a two-day, three-game stretch in which Freiman hit 10-for-15 with 10 RBI.
Freiman, however, was not the only Blue Devil to stroke the ball Wednesday against the Camels (15-23). Duke pounded out 20 hits en route to the easy victory. Sophomores Ryan McCurdy and Alex Hassan each posted three hits, while three other players also enjoyed multi-hit games.
Freshman shortstop Jake Lemmerman crushed his second home run of the season in Duke's seven-run fourth inning, when the Blue Devils amassed six hits and batted around.
It started when Hassan singled through the left side, folllowed by catcher Matt William's right-field double and another double from Freiman. Three batters later, sophomore Gabriel Saade belted a two-run triple to left-center field. After senior Kyle Kreick reached on an error, Lemmerman hit his bomb to cap the scoring.
With the scoring outburst, Duke had built a 13-1 lead and cruised the rest of the way. The Blue Devils added tallies in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings-some because of Campbell's eight errors.
Three Duke pitchers combined for a no-hitter against N.C. Central Tuesday night, and the hitless streak was broken in the first inning against Campbell. But the Blue Devil hurlers worked well with the lead, surrendering just eight hits.
Sophomore Jonathan Foreman pitched five innings to get the win, his second of the year. He only yielded five hits and one earned run while striking out three.
Duke returns to action this weekend when ACC power Clemson comes to Durham for a three-game series starting Friday night.
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