Just two days removed from a performance that Blue Devil head coach Chris Pollard described as both “ugly” and “hard to watch,” Duke returned to the field looking for redemption.
And with a struggling opponent in Durham for a mid-week matchup, the Blue Devils were able to move back above .500 for the season.
Behind a steady outing from starting pitcher Graeme Stinson, Duke kept Maryland Eastern Shore in check as the Blue Devils picked up a comfortable 10-3 victory Tuesday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The freshman southpaw tossed just four innings, but opened the contest with three perfect frames before a two-out single in the fourth inning ended Stinson’s bid for a no-hitter.
As the Norcross, Ga., native kept things solid on the mound, the Duke offense went to work early, getting four runs in the first three innings to set the tone for the remainder of the evening.
After a two-out walk was issued to right fielder Griffin Conine, third baseman Jack Labosky smacked a double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third for Michael Smiciklas. The junior then capitalized with a two-run single back up the middle, staking his team to a 2-0 lead and extending his hitting streak to five games.
With runners on second and third again in the third inning, a wild pitch from Hawk starter Chris Melrath—who finished the game with an ugly line of seven runs on five hits with five walks in just 4.1 innings—scored catcher Chris Proctor. Three batters later, a sacrifice fly from Peter Zyla allowed Conine to cross the plate for his second run of the night.
From there, the Blue Devils’ pitching staff continued to assert itself. Following Stinson’s one-hit, six-strikeout shutout performance, senior Kevin Lewallyn pitched a pair of scoreless frames. The lefty had made just three appearances prior to Tuesday, but struck out three and surrendered only two hits as Maryland Eastern Shore remained quiet through six innings of play.
In the meantime, Duke (12-11) continued to add to its advantage—the Blue Devils loaded the bases with just one out in the fifth, forcing the Hawks to pull Melrath.
But Maryland Eastern Shore reliever Evan Bertone could not stop the bleeding as Zyla wreaked havoc on the Hawks. His RBI fielder’s choice kicked off the scoring before the junior swiped second base, and an errant throw from the catcher allowed Conine to score yet again. Zyla later tallied Duke’s seventh run on one of two Hawk wild pitches.
The only blemish for the home team came in the seventh when James Ziemba made a relief appearance in the top of the seventh. The 6-foot-10 southpaw struggled yet again, loading the bases with a hit by pitch, single and walk. Maryland Eastern Shore (3-14) then finally got on the board with consecutive singles, plating a trio of runs to cut into the Blue Devils’ hefty margin.
With another pair of runs in the eighth, though, Duke stretched its lead seven, setting the stage for Labosky to make his now-usual closer appearance on the mound. The versatile junior set down the Hawks in order to seal the win, maintaining his team-best ERA at 0.69 for the season.
The Blue Devils will get back to ACC play this weekend as they travel to Charlottesville, Va., for their first true road series of the season—a three-game set against No. 21 Virginia.
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