With his team down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, senior first baseman Nate Freiman blasted a 3-run homer to give the Blue Devils a 4-2 lead they never surrendered in Duke's 4-3 victory over Davidson Tuesday at Jack Coombs Field.
The blast was Freiman's 11th of the season, seven more than anyone else on the team and second-most in the ACC.
The 6-foot-7 Freiman, who normally hits in the middle of the lineup, batted from the leadoff spot for the first time all year, and made the most of his extra at-bats. He finished 3-for-4 with all four of Duke's RBIs. His three hits-including a double, Duke's only extra-base hit of the game other than Freiman's home run-amounted to one third of the Blue Devils' total.
Davidson (13-17) got on the scoreboard first, putting up two runs in the top of the third inning with back-to-back doubles off starting pitcher Will Currier. The Blue Devils (25-13) responded in the home half of the inning, with Freiman driving in junior third baseman Ryan McCurdy, who had singled with one out.
The two teams traded zeroes for three innings until Duke struck in the bottom of the seventh. Again, McCurdy and Freiman were in the middle of the rally.
Freshman Will Piwnica-Worms singled with one out, and McCurdy bunted his way on to give the senior slugger men on first and second with one out. Freiman took a 1-0 pitch and sent it over the left-field wall for the 4-2 lead.
The Wildcats got one run off of relief pitcher Dennis O'Grady in the bottom of the eighth, but O'Grady retired the side in order in the ninth to pick up his second save of the season.
Freiman finished the contest a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, while McCurdy and Piwnica-Worms both chipped in with multi-hit games.
The Blue Devils return to the field Wednesday at 7 p.m. at home to play Wofford before traveling to Maryland for a weekend ACC series.
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