Making up for an extra innings outing against the Tigers last Sunday, the Blue Devils closed out their bout with this week’s Tigers a bit early.
Coming off a grueling series loss to No. 3 Clemson, No. 6 Duke bounced back with authority to claim a 12-2 win against Towson in eight innings at Jack Coombs Field. An effective and efficient effort by the Duke bullpen was supported by timely offense that yielded a significant enough lead to end the game after eight innings of play. With this midweek win, the team moves to 16-5 on the season.
The night was headlined by the first career start for David Boisvert. The junior has battled with injuries since his late high school, resulting in limited time on the bump for the Blue Devils. He started the season working limited relief, a role in which he allowed zero runs across 5.2 innings. In his debut as a starter, Boisvert threw three perfect innings in just 25 pitches, earning himself the win.
The Charlotte native’s approach to hitters matched up particularly well with the Tigers.
“The biggest thing is just the in-zone efficiency with the fastball,” said head coach Chris Pollard on Boisverts’ outing. “This team doesn’t strike out a lot, they want to swing … if we’re aggressive with the zone, we can get some quick outs.”
As Boisvert continues to make his recovery and ease his way into extended workloads, this ability to pound the zone and draw low-pitch outs will be a lethal tool within Duke’s pitching staff.
“To finally be healthy now and pitching as well as he is … it's just a great testament to him,” Pollard said.
Jackson Emus followed up Boisvert’s dominance on the bump, fanning four and allowing just one baserunner off a throwing error over his 1.2 innings of work. It wasn’t until the sixth inning with Edward Hart on the bump that Towson was able to get anything out of the Duke (16-5, 3-3 in the ACC) defensive effort. The Tigers (4-15) managed to get runners on second and third with two out thanks to a walk followed by a throwing error from Ben Miller. Jeremy Wagner — the Tigers’ clean-up man — stepped to the plate and barrelled up a line drive that dropped into left field to push in both runners. His RBI double was followed up by an infield single from Jordan Peyton. These two base hits were Towson’s only on the night. Tim Noone provided a stellar relief effort, sitting down all six batters he faced.
On the other end of the diamond, the Blue Devils’ bats saw a bit more success, largely centered around a hot second inning. Freshman Chase Krewson got it started in the second, working a full count before lacing a laser down the right-field line that drove one run in. A failed pickoff attempt drove in another run while allowing Krewson to advance to third. From there, Zac Morris got one deep enough in the air to work a sac-fly and make it 3-0. AJ Gracia — who switched places in the lineup with Alex Stone — capped off the inning’s scoring with a hard-hit ball into left-center that bounced over the wall for an RBI ground-rule double.
“AJ has swung the bat so well, it's really hard not to go ahead and get him up there where he’s going to get a guaranteed at-bat in the first inning,” Pollard said on the freshman’s movement within the lineup.
He is now up to batting .356 with an OPS of 1.160, making him undoubtedly one of the most reliable bats in the Blue Devils’ arsenal.
The third and fourth innings saw Duke take advantage of the Tigers’ defensive missteps. Small ball got Wallace Clark 90 feet from the plate from where he was promptly able to score on a wild pitch. In the following inning, the Blue Devils scored three off a walk and three fielding errors. Towson’s third baseman, Bryce Frederick, particularly struggled as he recorded three errors on the night that all came in high-stakes situations.
To find the flashy offense, turn toward the end of the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Krewson drew a 2-0 count and saw a hanging breaking ball inside. He got his hands in on it and launched the ball 405 feet into the scoreboard for another two runs, extending the Duke lead to eight. The bottom of the eighth saw Pollard have Andrew Yu pinch hit for Macon Winslow. Yu pulled one high and deep over the left field wall, tacking on two more and walking it off for the Blue Devils as the lead reached 10.
The early-season success of both power hitters has induced a dilemma in the lineup for Pollard.
“Right now, we’ve got a luxury and a problem at the same time and that is he [Krewson] and Andy Yu are both playing so well,” Pollard said.
As lineups have cycled through, both the junior Yu and Krewson have posted similarly strong numbers. Yu is slapping a staggering 1.394 OPS in his 23 at-bats while Krewson found his way to a 1.213 OPS in one less at-bat.
“We gotta get creative and look for ways to get them on the field at the same time,” Pollard said.
Although both of their success thus far in pinch-hitting roles has worked well for Duke, finding ways to maximize production out of the hot bats will be critical as the team looks for offensive firepower throughout the upcoming ACC gauntlet.
The Blue Devils will next make the short trek over to Raleigh where they will continue their ACC campaign and take on N.C. State for a weekend series.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.