Basketball fans may be happy to see Justise Winslow in a Duke uniform, but the Blue Devils did their best to suppress Liberty Tuesday afternoon.
Duke picked up its ninth straight victory with a 3-2 win against the Flames at Jack Coombs Field. Leadoff hitter Andy Perez had two of the Blue Devils' six hits and scored a run as the offense once again gave the pitching staff just enough run support to get the job done.
Mitch Stallings picked up the victory on the mound for Duke (10-1), tossing two innings and striking out five. The freshman southpaw was one of eight Duke pitchers on the afternoon, as the staff combined to hold Liberty (6-5) to just three hits. Junior Kenny Koplove earned a five-out save, picking up three strikeouts of his own in the process. The right-hander has yet to allow a hit this season.
Duke drew first blood in the bottom of the first when freshman Evan Dougherty scored Perez on a sacrifice fly. The Flames bounced back in the fourth inning on a triple by Dalton Britt, plating two runners at the expense of right-hander Karl Blum.
But the Blue Devils wasted little time before jumping back in front, answering Liberty's two-run frame with one of their own in the bottom of the fifth. A Dougherty double set up designated hitter Cris Perez with two runners in scoring position, and the sophomore sent the ball back through the middle to bring home both of his teammates, putting Duke ahead 3-2—a lead the bullpen would protect the rest of the way.
Perez added to his team-leading RBI total with the fifth-inning single, picking up his 12th and 13th on the season.
Duke is now 4-1 in one-run contests and will take its nine-game winning streak across town to Chapel Hill for a three-game series with No. 20 North Carolina.
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