The Hurricanes threatened to darken a beautiful weekend in Durham, but the Blue Devils kept the storm at bay.
Three wins this weekend might have separated the dugouts at Jack Coombs Field, but the series could not have been closer. No. 7 Duke’s thrilling sweep of Miami was earned over the course of three one-run games.
“I’m really proud of our competitive fight … we’re a lot tougher and more competitive than I thought we were,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “I worried in the fall and I worried in the preseason about this team’s toughness and competitive fight, and they have shown me that I shouldn’t have been worried about that.”
This competitive series was a compelling stage for Duke standouts Ben Miller and Charlie Beilenson. Miller earned an unforgettable moment, stepping up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth in Friday’s opener. It was a cold day for him, starting 0-for-4 at the plate with his 10-game hit streak in danger. Drawing a 1-1 count, the Durham native caught a fastball over the dish and laced it through the 5-6 hole to plate Wallace Clark and claim game one.
Miller went on to post a remarkable four-hit afternoon Sunday, including an RBI ground-rule double to tie the game in the eighth inning and a leadoff single in the bottom of the 11th that set the team up to walk it off. The Penn transfer continues to swing one of the hottest bats in the country, now hitting .448.
On the defensive end, Beilenson was the star of the show. The right-handed graduate student worked a remarkable 6.1 scoreless innings across all three games, earning his first two wins of the season.
“It’s pretty incredible that he is able to do what he does. It’s been a real luxury for us to have a guy that you’re capable of using that much … and his stuff is better the more he pitches,” Pollard said.
The series opened with a duel of Jonathan Santucci and Miami’s Gage Ziehl. The righty Ziehl came into Durham riding an incredible 15-strikeout win against No. 2 Clemson. Early on, it looked like this dominance would extend against the Blue Devils (24-8, 9-6 in the ACC) as he quickly tallied four innings without sacrificing a hit.
The middle of Duke’s lineup, however, seemed to figure Ziehl out in the bottom of the fifth. A chain of singles from Alex Stone, Clark and Tyler Albright turned it into a three-run inning and gave the Blue Devils the lead.
Meanwhile, Santucci was battling on his end. The Leominster, Mass., native made it through five innings of work, allowing just two runs while striking out six batters on 98 pitches. The Hurricanes (15-16, 6-9) found success against Gabriel Nard, able to drive in one more thanks to an Edgardo Villegas RBI single that evened the contest in the top of the sixth. The Blue Devils staved off any further damage heading into the bottom of the ninth thanks to the relief duo of Beilenson and Owen Proksch.
On Saturday, Duke was able to jump out in front early, hammering two runs out of starter Rafe Schlesinger in the second inning. Macon Winslow pushed a grounder up the middle to drive home Stone. Veteran catcher Andrew Yu kept things moving with a base hit before Zac Morris got in on the action, just barely getting his ball to drop fair in right field for an RBI double. Devin Obee and AJ Gracia tagged on RBIs of their own in the third and fourth innings to create a comfortable four-run lead.
On the bump for the Blue Devils was Kyle Johnson, who made his first start in about a month, suffering time off due to a lower body injury. Johnson, despite throwing limited pitches, looked as good as ever. The freshman two-way player struck out a career-high six batters over his three scoreless innings.
Although Duke might have looked to coast to a series-clinching win, the Hurricanes didn’t go down without a fight. The sixth inning saw them record a pair of RBI singles from Villegas and Jason Torres. This stretch of the lineup found similar success in the seventh inning against James Tallon, driving in two runs off him to tie the game.
Once again, the Blue Devils failed to relent. Gracia roped a ball deep into right field, getting it to bounce over the fence for a ground-rule double. Logan Bravo walked, and it was Stone up with two on. Swinging on the first pitch, the veteran bounced the ball off the mound and over the shortstop's head, as Stone reached first and Gracia crossed home plate. The Blue Devils took the lead and rode two shutout innings from Beilenson to clinch the series.
With the series already clinched, Duke played its tightest game Sunday. The team quickly found its backs against the wall as Miami starter Herick Hernandez threw a dominant six innings of one-run ball, striking out 10 in the outing. The Hurricanes extended their lead to 7-1 in the eighth inning, headlined by Lorenzo Carrier’s towering two-run shot.
All hope seemed lost, but this Blue Devil team, eager to earn the first sweep of Miami in program history, thought otherwise. The team rallied through the bottom of the eighth, getting RBIs out of Chase Krewson, Stone, Obee, Harrison Rodgers, Morris and Miller to tie it up and force extra innings.
Beilenson locked it down in the ninth and tenth innings, but a stumble from Proksch let the Hurricanes score three runs in the 11th. Duke’s toughness, however, never wavered. Bravo punched an RBI single into right field and Albright loaded the bases on a throwing error. Miami balked on a hidden-ball-trick attempt and walked Stone, leaving the bases loaded again for Clark.
“Having one-pitch battles, not making one moment bigger than the next, that’s how you execute,” Pollard said. “Clark did just that — he stayed patient, took two balls, and then stayed on his pitch to walk it off and secure the sweep with a two-RBI single.
“Special seasons require special moments like this, and today we pulled off the improbable,” Pollard said.
Duke is next set to host William and Mary Tuesday.
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