With the season more than a month old, it’s time to start taking head coach Chris Pollard’s Duke squad seriously.
The 13th-ranked Blue Devils remained on cruise control Wednesday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, slashing 15 hits in an 8-0 beatdown against Presbyterian. The win was Duke’s 21st of the season and 20th in its last 23 contests.
Sophomore southpaw Graeme Stinson took the mound for the Blue Devils in the midweek affair, retiring nine of the first 11 Presbyterian batters without allowing a hit in three innings before handing the ball to freshman Bryce Jarvis in the fourth. Duke took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and Stinson, Jarvis, Matt Mervis and Bill Chillari combined for a one-hit gem with 15 strikeouts, marking the Blue Devils’ third shutout of the season.
“All of our guys were executing their entire repertoire,” Pollard said. “Graeme executed his fastball, cut-fastball and his slider. I was really excited about Bryce Jarvis’s outing because he established his changeup. That’s his best pitch, and we saw it all fall. It was the top swing-and-miss pitch on our team.”
On the offensive end, the Blue Devils (21-5) wasted no time jumping out in front, scoring one run in the first inning after three consecutive two-out singles, including an RBI shot up the middle from freshman Joey Loperfido. This was the first of four hits of the night for the freshman, who is batting a team-best .373 this season.
“He’s a tremendous athlete, and even more so, he’s a really good competitor,” Pollard said. “We talk about the importance in our program of being the same guy every day, which is consistency with approach, and he’s very consistent with that. If you watch him in his day-to-day approach around our program, he’s much more like a senior than he is a freshman.”
The veteran Duke lineup added two more runs in both the third and fourth innings, highlighted by a two-run double from senior Jack Labosky past the outstretched arms of a diving Guy Casaceli in left field.
The Blue Hose (7-19) finally found their only hit in the seventh inning, putting runners on first and second with a walk and a single before a sensational diving catch by center fielder Kennie Taylor preserved the shutout.
Duke’s eight-run performance marks the sixth consecutive game that the Blue Devils scored four or more runs. Pollard credited the team’s recent success to its balance in the lineup and disciplined approach at the plate.
“We’re getting production up and down the lineup,” Pollard said. “I thought our two-strike approach was good. We only had two strikeouts all night and we did a good job of hitting with two outs.”
The Blue Devils will look to continue their impressive season Friday, as they host ACC foe Notre Dame in a weekend series at the DBAP.
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