Hopes of a Blue Devil victory slowly rose as the sun set over Jack Coombs field.
Though Duke lagged just behind UNC Wilmington for most of Tuesday’s game, a back-half resurgence eventually delivered the Blue Devils to an 8-4 comeback. For head coach Chris Pollard, the triumph meant history, as he tied the field’s namesake with Coombs’ all-time program win record of 381.
“We’re a long ways away from playing our best baseball. We've got plenty of things that we can do better and will do better,” Pollard said. “But I did think we did a good job of, when things didn't go well tonight, staying in the moment and continuing to compete and be tough.”
It took until the sixth inning for Duke to find the momentum it needed for the win. Both the offense and defense had been frosty all afternoon, seemingly chilled by the February air. The Blue Devils trailed the Seahawks 2-1 just before junior Tyler Albright worked his way around the bases to put Duke in position for the tying run.
With Albright on third, sophomore Kyle Johnson slammed a home run to left center on the first pitch he saw, leapfrogging Duke into a 3-2 lead. Moments later, senior Ben Miller sent a rocket in the same direction, bringing both himself and Ben Rounds around the park. The three-hit, four-run inning gave the Blue Devils a 5-2 edge. In the seventh, Albright added even more breathing room after stealing third and scoring unearned on a Seahawk throwing error.
“I thought Tyler Albright was a real spark plug for us tonight,” Pollard said. “You know, the job he did on the bases, getting on base. Obviously the swing by Kyle Johnson kind of took the lid off a little bit, and everybody relaxed.”
UNCW responded with a fight in the top of the eighth inning, adding runs from both Ryker Galaska and Kevin Jones. Junior Tanner Thach singled up the middle to claim the latter RBI, but when Trevor Lucas struck out swinging, the Blue Devils approached the plate for the penultimate time with a 6-4 lead.
They widened the gap to three runs when Rounds doubled to right center and scored off a walking RBI from Macon Winslow. Miller made it 8-4 when Berger recorded one of the same. Graduate southpaw Reid Easterly followed up in the top of the ninth by striking out three Seahawk batters to seal the win.
Both teams cycled through the pitching bullpen throughout the game, with six Blue Devils and six Seahawks taking the mound before the eighth inning finished. Ryan Calvert, a grad transfer from UNCW, made notably quick work of his former teammates when he stepped up at the top of the fifth. He took care of two innings with 28 pitches, 19 strikes and a team-best zero ERA.
“I thought the two shutdown innings by Ryan Calvert after we scored were really important to maintain momentum,” Pollard said.
For the first half of the game, the Seahawks simply found more opportunities at the plate than the Blue Devils did. Near the end of the fourth inning, UNCW boasted an overall hitting percentage of .353 to Duke’s .200. By the bottom of the eighth, the Blue Devils had reversed the trend, posting a .321 to the Seahawks’ .273.
“I thought we had a lot better at-bats over the second half of that ball game,” Pollard said. “There was no question in my mind.”
It took time to warm up for that second-half show. Starting pitcher Andrew Healy faced seven hitters across 26 pitches in the first inning. The Seahawks capitalized on an early walk when two batters popped singles to bring sophomore Trevor Lucas around the bases for the game’s first run.
Duke’s Johnson had a chance to even the score in the second, stepping up to loaded bases with only one out. Seahawk pitcher Khris Morris had walked three consecutive Blue Devils, and Jake Berger eagerly eyed home plate from 90 feet to the left. But when Johnson grounded out into a double play, Berger was unable to make it from third to home in time for the score.
In the fourth inning, the visitors struck again. Senior Kevin Jones reached first base on a fielding error, then second on a bunt. When junior Mac Gillespie doubled down the left field line, Jones rounded the bases to put UNCW up 2-0.
But that would be the Seahawks’ last lead of the night.
“Over the first four innings, we were an exceptionally tight team,” Pollard said. “There’s nothing I can do about that, you know. They just have to play themselves to the other side… and I thought we did a good job with that tonight.”
Duke will return to Coombs Field Friday to take on the Cornell Big Red in the first matchup of a three-game series.
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Abby DiSalvo is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.