For the first time since 2014, the Blue Devils have taken down the Wolfpack in a weekend series.
Duke followed freshman Henry Zatkowski to a decisive 16-6 run-rule win against N.C. State Sunday afternoon. Paced by the southpaw’s six stellar innings on the mound, the Blue Devils clinically produced nine runs in the middle frames to pull away from the Wolfpack. After a sound 5-1 victory Friday and a blowout 14-6 loss Saturday, the rubber-match win gave Duke its second straight ACC series win and moved it to fifth in the conference standings.
“I told our guys I thought that was as good of a job of executing situational offense as I’ve seen a team have,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “We executed whatever the situation called for offensively in so many different ways.”
With the game moving swiftly through three innings, the home team decided to slow things down in the fourth. While the Blue Devils have made the long ball a core part of their offensive attack — they’ve broken the program record for homers in a season each of the last two years — they employed more of a small-ball approach against N.C. State to create some traffic on the basepaths.
A blooper and a single up the middle put Ben Miller and Jake Hyde on first and second with nobody out. Looking to manufacture a run, junior Tyler Albright showed his barrel and bunted, hoping to move both runners over into scoring position. Instead, the ball rolled perfectly past Wolfpack starter Ryan Marohn, allowing the sophomore to reach easily and load the bases. Macon Winslow capitalized, dropping a blooper of his own into right field to tie the game at 1-1.
But Duke wasn’t done there.
Back in the lineup for the first time in two weeks, two-way sophomore Kyle Johnson shot a ball down the right-field line to score two and give the Blue Devils the advantage. A wild pitch and a throwing error doubled the lead, and suddenly Duke was in control.
“Using the bunt, using the drag, using the fly ball, using the ground ball, whatever we had to do to get the situation done,” Pollard said. “And I told them, I said, ‘when you're that sold out to do things the right way, the game rewards you.’”
Although left fielder Josh Hogue opened the game’s scoring by smashing a hanging offspeed pitch over the right-center-field wall for a solo shot, N.C. State was otherwise set down quietly through most of the contest. That was thanks to the remarkably efficient work of Zatkowski in just his third career start.
“The story of the ball game is Henry Zatkowski,” Pollard said. “We thought one time through the lineup, three innings, but he had them so off balance we decided to ride him. Great job. Just an incredible performance by him.”
The Clarksville, Md., native gave up just three hits, landing four different pitches for strikes and consistently fooling the Wolfpack hitters. Though he gave up a second run in his sixth and final inning of work, the Blue Devils had amassed a 9-2 lead by the time the rookie exited the game.
Zatkowski’s fastball won’t blow any hitters away — it sits in the high 80s — but the movement he has developed, his unusually low arm angle and his ability to land a variety of pitches for strikes has proven to be a tough equation to solve for opposing batters.
“I try to get some sink on it and definitely some arm side run,” Zatkowski said about his fastball. “So if I can do that, it'll definitely get batters trying to hit the ball on the ground.”
Leading 5-1, Duke looked to add on in the fifth. Hyde and Miller reached to start the frame just as they had in the prior inning, and once again, Albright laid down a beautiful bunt. He reached again — this time on what was ruled an error by third baseman Matt Heavner — though it likely would have been a close play at first regardless. A bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly extended the Blue Devil lead and chased Marohn out of the game.
Two batters later, the big hit came once again. This time it was off the bat of sophomore AJ Gracia for a sharp single up the middle to score two runs. The preseason All American’s numbers have been down to start the campaign, but his four-RBI showing may have been more a deserved break-out than the result of any drastic changes.
“I've told people, you know, his BABIP — batting average on balls in play — is down around .160, so nobody stays that unlucky forever, and you saw it today,” Pollard said. “The chase [rate] has been low, the in-zone contact has been really high, and those things tell you, over the long haul, he's going to be fine.”
With Duke comfortably leading 9-2, junior southpaw James Tallon entered in relief for the seventh. The Arlington, Va., native has had an up-and-down campaign so far, but Sunday certainly falls into the latter category. Tallon surrendered two runs in both the seventh and the eighth, with the biggest scare of his outing coming off the bat of Heavner.
With the score at 9-4 and a man on first, the junior launched a ball to the left-center field wall that could have made it a nervy three-run game if it snuck out. Instead, Gracia strided out and covered ground quickly, securing the ball as he collided with the fence. The web gem helped the Blue Devils escape the inning with their comfortable lead still intact.
Fortunately for Tallon, the Duke offense responded each time he faltered. Three runs in the bottom of the seventh and four in the eighth only extended the lead despite his struggles, with the game ultimately ending on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch from Wallace Clark to make it a run-rule-inducing ten-run lead.
An run-scoring double for Gracia and an RBI-single for Albright were the highlights of Duke’s strong production to end the game and take the series.
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Next up, the Blue Devils will host Davidson Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. before a weekend rivalry series against North Carolina in Chapel Hill.