Down 2-0 through four innings with the top of the lineup struggling, the Blue Devils called upon a pair of unlikely heroes to dig them out of a hole and spark a come-from-behind victory.
Center fielder Will Piwnica-Worms and third baseman Dennis O'Grady led a three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning, lifting Duke (19-9) to a 3-2 win over Elon (14-10) Wednesday at Jack Coombs Field.
The freshman and sophomore, hitting from the eight and nine spots, combined for four of the Blue Devils' six hits in the game, as well as two of their three runs.
"We always talk about one through nine, so it's great to see the guys in there down toward the bottom pick us up and help us score a few," head coach Sean McNally said.
But the Phoenix captured all of the momentum early on, living up to their reputation as a potent offensive team. Elon entered the contest having racked up 13 home runs in its last five games and showed no signs of slowing down in the top of the second. Second baseman Bennett Davis blasted a homer to left-center on the first pitch he saw from Duke starter Jonathan Foreman. Shortstop Neal Pritchard launched another shot over the same section of the wall one inning later.
Meanwhile, Phoenix hurler Tom Porter stymied the Blue Devils' top five hitters early. In his first start since his freshman season, the senior found a groove in the third and fourth frames, allowing no hits during that stretch.
Duke finally wore down the inexperienced righthander in the bottom of the fifth, but the players who took advantage were not the Blue Devils' most heralded hitters.
Piwnica-Worms led off the frame with his second hit of the game, a single to center field. Still holding a hot bat after he doubled down the left field line in the second, O'Grady followed suit with another single to center, pushing Piwnica-Worms to third. Porter proceeded to walk Tom Luciano to load the bases.
Then, Duke capitalized on a crucial Elon mistake.
Catcher Matt Williams grounded to Pritchard for what should have been a double play, but instead, the shortstop misjudged his flip to second base and the ball sailed into right field. Piwnica-Worms and O'Grady scored, while Luciano advanced all the way to third. Right fielder Alex Hassan grounded into a double play in the Blue Devils' next at-bat, but it was enough to bring Luciano home and give Duke the go-ahead run it would never relinquish.
The Blue Devil offense cooled off after the comeback rally and the team relied on a stellar performance from the bullpen to seal the win.
Freshman Eric Pfisterer relieved Foreman in the fourth inning and turned in more than three frames of spotless work from the hill, picking up his second win of the season.
On a night when Duke's first five hitters went a combined 2-for-14, including no hits from sluggers Nate Freiman and Jeremy Gould, it was clear that the victory would be preserved on the mound.
Hassan, who doubles as the team's closer, made sure the efforts of his bullpen mates did not go to waste. With two outs and men on first and second, the two-way standout regained his poise and retired Chase Austin with a called third strike to end the game.
"I put myself in a tough situation, but you just trust yourself, believe in yourself, and just try to stay in the present and get him out," said Hassan, who earned his seventh save of the year.
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