The Blue Devil pitching staff made sure it brought the heat against Dartmouth before the rains came.
Duke defeated the Big Green 8-5 and 6-1 in a doubleheader Friday at Jack Coombs Field behind stellar performances on the mound from junior Chris Manno and senior Andrew Wolcott.
Manno held Dartmouth (0-2) scoreless over the first six innings of game one, allowing only three hits and two runs across seven innings of work. The southpaw picked up his first victory of the season as he looks to build on the team-high six wins he posted last year.
Wolcott proved equally dominant in the second game of the twinbill. He struck out eight batters-one short of his career high-and only let up one unearned run through seven innings. The Big Green mustered just two hits against the right-hander, and both were singles that came in the first inning.
Junior Alex Hassan pitched a pair of hitless innings and struck out two in relief of Wolcott, needing only 21 pitches to earn his second save of the season.
Offensively, the Blue Devils (5-1) received major contributions from freshmen Brian Litwin and Will Piwnica-Worms. Litwin gave Duke the lead for the first time in the opening game, ripping a single up the middle that scored two runners in the bottom of the fifth. He added another RBI in the bottom of the sixth with his grounder to second base and then managed to beat the throw to first in order to avoid what would have been an inning-ending double play.
Litwin also added a stolen base to go along with his two hits and three RBI.
Piwnica-Worms, a starter in all six of the Blue Devils' games, chipped in two runs, an RBI and three hits-including a triple and a double--over the two games.
"We're pleased with all our freshmen," head coach Sean McNally said. "We expect them to continue to grow and develop. We know we're going to need them as the season goes along and we expect to use them more and more."
Senior slugger Nate Freiman made his presence felt as well, giving Duke a 2-1 lead in game two that the team would never relinquish. Batting in the clean-up spot, the designated hitter faced a full count in the bottom of the sixth and responded with a line drive to left field that scored Hassan from second base.
Junior first baseman Jeremy Gould posted four hits in the two contests to extend his hitting streak to 20 games dating back to last year. Gould now has a team-high 11 hits on the season.
Hassan provided another spark on offense, as he proved why he is a force to be reckoned with in the field, on the mound and at the plate. His three hits in the nightcap were the most by a Blue Devil in either game, and he has notched multiple hits in half of Duke's games to date.
The Blue Devils were scheduled to play three games against Dartmouth, but heavy rain on both Saturday and Sunday led to the cancellation of the final contest.
Duke will look to notch its sixth straight win Wednesday at home against UNC-Greensboro.
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