Duke clawed its way back into a 12-inning thriller Tuesday afternoon.
The Blue Devils hung around for three extra innings against UNC-Greensboro at the UNCG Baseball Stadium but were ultimately felled by a two-RBI walkoff hit in the twelfth inning, losing the game 9-8. Both teams rallied from a deficit to take the lead multiple times throughout the game, but the Spartans were able to capitalize when it counted most.
“I thought it was a tremendous effort. I’m proud of our kids,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “We fought back at a couple different points. There were several different points over the course of the game where we had the opportunity to give in to the moment, but we didn’t.”
Duke came back from a 6-3 deficit to finally tie the game in the eighth inning off a sacrifice fly, and after three scoreless innings, the Blue Devils got back on the scoreboard first in the top of the twelfth inning, scoring a pair of runs and taking advantage of a UNC-Greensboro error.
“We learned a lot about the makeup of this team,” Pollard said. “They proved in the ballgame tonight that they’re not going to back down. When they’re in a situation where they get down, or they’ve got their backs against the wall as we did tonight, they showed me a level of toughness that I think we can build off of moving forward.”
The tide of the game quickly turned at the bottom of the twelfth, due to a Duke error. Andrew Istler relieved Conner Stevens on the mound for the Blue Devils (2-2) in a final attempt to stave off the Spartans. After striking out two batters, Istler faced two outs and loaded bases when Hunter King hit a single for the Spartans, putting the game within reach at 8-7. Next Spartan Julien Abreau lined a ball down to center to score two runs for the walk-off win.
The long game was marked by multiple pitching changes for both teams. Andrew Van Oren started on the mound for Duke but had to be replaced in the fourth inning by Dillon Haviland, and the Blue Devils would go on to utilize five more pitchers over the course of the game. Chris Kono notably held the Spartans (1-0) scoreless for two innings.
“A lot of it was dictated by the fact that we had to go to the bullpen earlier in the game, and then it just ended up being a longer game,” Pollard said. “A lot of pitching changes were necessitated for both sides. When you’re forced to go to the bullpen in the third inning—especially this early in the year when pitch counts aren’t that high—you’re going to have to do a lot of subbing. We had a ton of different guys come out of the bullpen and throw the ball very, very well.”
After a scoreless first inning, Blue Devil Chris Marconcini was the first to get Duke on the scoreboard, converting a walk and a steal into a run for the Blue Devils. Marconcini had a banner night, going four-for-four from the plate, reaching base seven times throughout the course of the game and collecting two RBIs.
Van Oren held the Spartans through the first two innings but began to fade by the third. Although he allowed three hits in the third inning, the Blue Devils were able to limit the Spartans to just one run. Duke held a 3-1 lead until UNC-Greensboro scored five runs off of three hits in the fourth inning, including one off an errant pitch to take a 6-3 lead. Haviland, Van Orden's replacement, failed to record an out, and Duke would five more pitchers to take the mound.
“It was a long game, and there were a number of pitching changes,” Pollard said. “North Carolina Greensboro walked a lot of guys. It was just a long ball game-- even if it had ended in nine innings, it would have been a long ball game. It was probably the longest game I’ve ever played.”
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