The second-ever “Battle in the Bull City” may not have turned out as close as the 2-1 barn-burner between these two teams in 2017, but served its purpose well for two squads looking to make some adjustments as one begins its season and the other heads into the home stretch of its own.
The Durham Bulls bested Duke 6-1 in a seven-inning exhibition matchup Tuesday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, scoring two runs apiece in the third, fourth and sixth innings to pull away from the Blue Devils. Both teams worked in some new faces and lineups in the contest, which served as a tune-up game for the Bulls ahead of their season-opener against Charlotte Thursday and a much-needed midseason break for Duke.
“[Tonight was] exactly the hope for us. We’ve been in a tough two and a half week stretch where we haven’t played very well,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “Now we’re at the halfway point in the year, it felt like this could be a moment to kind of relax, hit the reset button and [say] okay, let’s go play better baseball over the second half of the season.”
No player embodied that sentiment more than freshman pitcher and Durham native Aaron Beasley, who got the start despite entering the game with just 2.1 innings under his belt in his young career. The southpaw made the most of the opportunity, tossing two scoreless innings against his hometown team and striking out two, including Kean Wong, an International League All-Star last season. Beasley’s performance brought to mind another Blue Devils player and Durham native by the same name, senior Aaron Therien, who doubled his first at-bat against the Bulls in Duke’s first game against Durham two years ago.
“I talked to our players after the game [in 2017] was over about what a great experience that had to be for a Durham native to do that,” Pollard said. “And so a guy growing up in Durham, Aaron Beasley, has been coming to ballgames here since he was a little kid—it’s something he’ll tell his grandkids about. We needed some guys to come out and be effective and he did a great job. Very proud of him.”
After Beasley, the Blue Devils (14-14) ran through a succession of relatively fresh arms as they tried to work in players who haven’t pitched much this season ahead of a tough stretch of four games over the next five days. Coleman Williams surrendered two runs in the bottom of the third, but Duke cut the lead to one in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from freshman Rudy Maxwell off Durham right-hander Casey Sadler, who posted a 3.39 ERA in 2018.
However, the Blue Devils couldn’t sustain their brief momentum, as the Bulls struck again in the bottom of the fourth, this time off Al Pesto. Junior Matt Mervis followed Pesto with a scoreless inning in the fifth, escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a pair of strikeouts and a popout, but Durham struck again in the bottom of the sixth, this time off one of their own. Bulls pitcher Colin Poche entered the game on the bump for Duke and struggled to retire his teammates, striking out a pair before giving up three consecutive doubles that extended Durham’s lead to five.
One of those doubles came off the bat of Nate Lowe, currently ranked the No. 8 prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays’ system. A disappointing spring training kept him from challenging for a spot with the Major League club, but he certainly impressed against the Blue Devils as he went 3-for-3 with three doubles, a pair of RBIs and a walk.
“Oh brother, Lowe I tell you—let me talk about him again. That guy is a special hitter,” said Pollard. “He’s starting to look like a guy that’s going to hit 30-40 home runs a year in the big leagues. Really impressed with Poche’s arm. They’ve got some nice pieces. They’re going to be a fun team to watch.”
Lowe and new Bulls manager Brady Williams had kind words for their cross-town counterparts, and specifically praised Beasley and Mervis for their performances on the mound.
“It was neat to get out there on the field, I’ve heard a lot about this place so just to get our guys some work and meet the Duke staff and see some of their players was cool,” Williams said. “[Beasley] did a nice job the first couple innings, had our guys off balance—seemed like it was going to be an hour-and-a-half game.”
As the Blue Devils pivot from Tuesday’s game towards the rest of the week, their lineup should finally begin to take its usual form again as Joey Loperfido is expected to return from an extended absence due to injury tomorrow night against East Carolina. Loperfido, who posted a .315/.408/.475 slash line in 2018, has been out since getting hurt in late February against Northwestern.
“[Loperfido’s] been a missing key piece for us. It helps a ton defensively, it gives us that spark at the top of the lineup, and he’s also a tremendous leadership piece for us out there, a general out there on the field,” Pollard said. “Even though he’s only a sophomore he’s the most experienced guy out there for us so to get that presence back on the field will be a help for us.”
Duke is hoping to pick up its second win of the season against the Pirates Wednesday evening in Greenville, N.C. after beating them 7-2 in their first meeting earlier this year in Durham. The Blue Devils will return home to the DBAP this weekend and get back to conference play as they host Pittsburgh for a three-game series.
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