With two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 10th inning, No. 10 California was close to extending the game for another frame.
Two freshmen and a sophomore at the bottom of the order had other plans for the Blue Devils.
After Zack Kone and Jimmy Herron put the winning run 90 feet away with a single and a double, sophomore Evan Dougherty lined a single into left-center field, scoring Kone for a 6-5 walk-off victory to even the series. The three underclassmen—batting in the sixth, seventh and eighth slots in the order—combined for seven of Duke’s 13 hits on the afternoon.
“I was really just looking for a good pitch to hit, and then once I got two strikes on me, I was just trying to put a good swing on a ball and put it in play,” Dougherty said. “It was actually my second walk-off—I had one last year…. But we weren’t playing a team ranked 10th in the country in that game, so I would say this is the biggest hit of my career.”
Much of the attention entering Saturday’s game was placed on Trent Swart, who made his first start for the Blue Devils (1-1) since 2014 after missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. But senior Nick Hendrix was the hero of the day on the hill, making his first appearance since a freak injury last March when he was concussed after a foul ball struck him in the dugout.
Hendrix got the win with three shutout innings to end the game and worked out of a jam in the top of the ninth after California’s first two batters got on base, striking Brett Cumberland out looking and then inducing two harmless pop-ups.
“He never backs down, and that’s why you like having him in there in that type of game, because you know what you’re going to get,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “Win or lose, he’s going to compete like crazy and give you everything he’s got, and he’s going to force the opponent to have to beat you. He’s not going to give in to the moment.”
Duke missed a golden opportunity to break the 5-5 tie in the seventh inning with runners on the corners and one out, but redshirt junior Jalen Phillips hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Preston Grand Pre that turned into a double play.
Swart’s return got off to a rocky start when leadoff hitter Aaron Knapp smacked a line drive just inside first base that rolled down the right field line, but second baseman Ryan Day threw him out at third base on a strong relay as Knapp tried for a triple.
Swart seemed set to get out of the inning with no damage done when Mitchell Kranson hit a chopper right to Day with two outs and nobody on base, but Day could not handle the short hop and the ball trickled into right field.
The Golden Bears (1-1) took advantage of the error and control issues from Swart to load the bases, and left fielder Nick Halamandaris gave California an early lead with a two-run single up the middle to complete the two-out rally. The Golden Bears added a run in the second inning, and Swart’s day was done after three innings on a limited pitch count after giving up five hits and two walks.
“He was amped up early. You could tell that with the fastball—the fastball was up, and that’s just a sign that he was really amped up, and that’s understandable,” Pollard said. “You put all of that effort into being back in this moment and you’re back in here in your home park against a top-10 team, but I thought he settled in. Each inning got better than the previous inning.”
Duke battled back with a big third inning, as freshman Chris Proctor started a rally from the bottom of the order in the first at-bat of his career with a double down the left field line.
Max Miller drove him in with a double over Halamandaris’ head, and after a fly ball for the second out of the inning seemed to slow Duke’s momentum, the next two Blue Devils walked and Kone came through with an RBI single up the middle to score two runs. Herron then hustled down the line after hitting a soft chopper to second base, and the fifth run of the inning scored on an error as the throw from Robbie Tenerowicz was well off-line.
“We put our fastest lineup out on the field today, and our speed really made a difference today. Jimmy was an example of that. We were able to put a lot of pressure on them defensively,” Pollard said. “Every ground ball, we forced them into hurry situations, and I think that’s what our speed can do for us.”
Duke’s bullpen could not hold the 5-3 lead though, with the Golden Bears tagging southpaw James Ziemba for two runs in the fifth inning to even the score and set up the dramatic finish.
The Blue Devils will try to put together an impressive series win to open the season Sunday, with the first pitch of the rubber match set for 11 a.m.
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