Duke's went into Tuesday's contest looking to get into the Yale bullpen as early as possible. After piling up nine runs in the first two innings, the Blue Devils could not have executed the game plan much better.
Sophomore Cris Perez smoked a double with the bases loaded to break open the game as part of an eight-run second inning as the Blue Devils routed the Bulldogs 13-3 Tuesday at Jack Coombs Field. The victory marked Duke's ninth straight win at home and ninth in its last 11 games.
"We were fortunate because we took advantage of a couple mistakes that they made. We were heady on the bases and we kept the inning alive long enough to come up with the big hit," head coach Chris Pollard said. "[Perez's double] was kind of a big dagger at the end of the inning."
After Duke left fielder Peter Zyla manufactured a run in the bottom of the first by singling, advancing to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scoring on a balk, the wheels came off for Yale starter Green Campbell in the bottom of the second. The Bulldog right-hander set the table for the Blue Devils himself, walking catcher Mike Rosenfeld and hitting first baseman Justin Bellinger. A single up the middle by left fielder Michael Smiciklas loaded the bases, and third baseman Max Miller brought home Rosenfeld on a fielder's choice.
Shortstop Kenny Koplove lofted an RBI single to center on an 0-2 pitch to plate Bellinger and continue the hit parade. Leadoff man Andy Perez followed with a chopper to third baseman Richard Slenker, who airmailed Nate Adams attempting to force out Koplove at second. The ball trickled into the right field as Miller scored and Koplove advanced to third.
With one out, center fielder Evan Dougherty walked on four pitches to reload the bases, but Perez promptly unloaded them with his double roped down the left-field line, plating all three runners to give starter Jack Labosky a 7-0 cushion.
Batting for the second time in the frame, Rosenfeld followed with a single that fell in front of Lawson in center to score Perez. After swiping second, the catcher came home on a RBI single by Bellinger to make it 9-0, spelling the end of the day for Campbell.
"It wasn't like we were squaring it up and hitting it all over the ballpark at the beginning of the inning but we stayed in in the inning," Pollard said. "We kept the inning alive long enough to get that big hit."
Making his first career start, Labosky made quick work of the Bulldogs in the top of the first thanks to a spinning throw by Koplove ranging up the middle on the game's first play. The Clovis, Calif., native worked out of trouble in the second, using a double play to escape a two-on, no-out jam.
During the offensive barrage in the bottom of the second, Labosky trotted back to the bullpen to stay warm back to the bullpen to stay warm in the middle of the inning. The freshman returned to the mound in the third and worked around a leadoff single to pick up the shutdown inning in his final inning of work, and was a fan of the early run support he got from his teammates.
"It's always fun when you get guys who hit around and you just have to throw strikes afterwards. It's a lot easier that way," Labosky said. "It's really nice to pitch with good defense behind you, that way you're just able to focus on your pitching and not trying to do too much by yourself."
As Pollard looks to solidify his staff's mid-week rotation, the freshman made a good case Tuesday, needing just 33 pitches to get through his three innings thanks to effective command of his two-seam fastball. Freshman southpaw Chris McGrath took over for Labosky in the fourth and worked the middle three innings to pick up the first win of his career.
Duke added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth with three consecutive singles from Rosenfeld, Bellinger and Smiciklas. After driving in a career-high five runs Sunday against North Carolina, Bellinger went 3-for-4 at the plate Tuesday, finding success by taking pitches to the opposite field.
"Basically when I get to the plate I just hit what they give me. I've been getting a lot of offspeed pitches and outside stuff so I just go with that and drive it to left field," Bellinger said. "Our mentality was to get the starter out of the game quick and get to the bullpen and just score as many runs as we can."
Yale got on the board in the top of the sixth against Duke reliever Chris McGrath. First baseman Eric Hsieh drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch before scoring on a double by Harrison White. But the Blue Devils responded immediately.
Perez found the right-center gap leading off the inning and motored around to third with a triple, scoring two batters later on Bellinger's third hit of the game. Singles from Smiciklas and Koplove loaded the bases once again, and Andy Perez drew a walk to bring Bellinger back to the dugout with Duke's 12th run.
"It was really important after we gave up the run in the sixth that we came back and scored two in the bottom, we had a really good answer," Pollard said. "When you give up runs like that and you're protecting a lead, it's always good at home to come back and have an answer in the bottom half."
Yale added two more runs in the eighth and threatened for an even bigger inning, but slick fielding from Koplove started a 6-4-3 double play that got submariner Luke Witten out a jam after the freshman relieved sophomore Karl Blum. Witten returned for the ninth and kept the ball in the infield during a three-up, three-down inning.
Five Duke pitchers—three of them freshmen—combined to hold the Bulldogs to seven hits despite plenty of balls put in play. The Blue Devil staff picked up just four strikeouts, but the defense, keyed by Koplove up the middle, was more than up to the task.
"Those plays go unnoticed [in the box score] but they're huge in the flow of the game, because they take so much pressure off a pitcher," Pollard said of Koplove. "All of a sudden, instead of having a runner on first base with nobody out, it's an out. He does it time after time."
Duke returns to Jack Coombs Field Wednesday at 3 p.m. to host Bryant.
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