After taking two midweek losses for the first time this season, No. 17 Duke was looking for a major bounce-back weekend. It found that in the form of a three-game sweep against Big Ten foe Northwestern.
It was tense at times, but the Blue Devils outscored the Wildcats 31-12 overall as the offense strung together several incredible innings — including a nine-spot Friday and a seven-run first Sunday. Ben Miller was the star of the show; the third baseman appeared to return to his 2024 All-ACC form, racking up five hits, three home runs and 10 RBIs in a prolific stretch.
Friday
A back-and-forth start turned into an offensive showcase, and Duke opened the series with a 14-5 victory.
The sixth inning was the main event, when the home squad sent 14 batters to the plate and embarked on a nine-run marathon on the basepaths. Miller started the festivities with a solo home run to left center — his fifth bomb of the campaign. That prompted Northwestern to go to Carter Danz in relief, and the Blue Devils teed off from there.
A constant rotation of walks, singles and the occasional extra-base hit kept the train rolling, and the Wildcats ended up trotting out four different arms over the course of the frame. It was the fourth time in the young season Duke has batted around in an inning.
“I thought we had an excellent approach there in the fifth and sixth innings to build some separation. We were able to get deep into their bullpen on Friday night, which is always a plus," head coach Chris Pollard said.
Graduate transfer Ben Rounds was instrumental in the offensive success all evening, going 3-for-5 in the best game of his Blue Devil career. The former Harvard outfielder scored three runs on the night, clubbed his first home run in blue during the fifth inning and finished a double shy of the cycle in the rout.
Kyle Johnson assumed his usual Friday-night starter role on the mound, but it was not all roses for the sophomore. After taking the bump to begin the second inning with a three-run lead, the Leesburg, Va., native surrendered three RBI knocks in a row; two doubles and a single helped bring in four tallies for the visitors.
Johnson found much more success the rest of the way. The two-way phenom did not allow a hit for the rest of his five-frame outing — which included a career-high pitch count of 95 — holding the Wildcats scoreless and giving a struggling offensive outfit a breather.
Duke went by committee on the mound the rest of the game. Ryan Calvert, Reid Easterly, Edward Hart, Mark Hindy and Marcello Mastroianni handled the final four innings, striking out seven and only allowing one run.
“It's no secret our issue has been when we don't make a play, it leads to a big inning and that happened in the second. Credit to Johnson, that is what a Friday night guy has to do is go out there and just pitch and put up zeros behind it,” Pollard said. “To go out there and put up three zeros behind it allowed us to get our feet back under us.”
It was a blazing beginning for the Duke bats, as it plated three runs in the opening frame. A Miller sac fly and a Rounds two-run triple got things started for the home team, a sign of their excellent contributions throughout the weekend.
Saturday
On the back of some clutch two-out hitting over the late portion of the game, Duke grinded out a 6-5 win over Northwestern to secure a series win and set up a sweep Sunday. Easterly picked up his first win as a Blue Devil on the mound and Miller paced the squad on offense with three RBIs in the victory.
Pollard’s crew manufactured two runs to help the bullpen out after the seventh-inning stretch. Macon Winslow knocked through a leadoff single, and the Blue Devils instantly turned to small-ball. Graduate student Jimmy Evans pinch-hit for Sam Harris before being pinch-run for by freshman Adam Troch when he was hit by a pitch. Wallace Clark bunted Winslow and Troch over to set up Miller with one out, and the Durhamite delivered with a two-RBI single to left field.
The home team would never relinquish its newfound lead. In fact, Duke would add to it. A Jake Hyde double was accompanied by an Andrew Yu single to make it 6-4 in the eighth inning. On the other end, Owen Proksch picked up his first save of the season despite giving up a run in the top of the ninth.
Gabe Nard pitched masterfully to keep the game within arm’s reach. The junior went 3.2 innings, only allowing two hits in the process. The efficient work was needed; his team’s offense had nothing going over the middle innings. A single in the top of the sixth and a fielder’s choice that ricocheted off the Ohioan ended the long relief as Pollard went to Easterly.
The Yale transfer took the bump following a fifth inning that saw the Blue Devils cut the lead to 4-3. Winslow worked a leadoff walk, and back-to-back doubles from Clark and Jake Berger brought home a pair. Duke seemed primed to add a couple more as AJ Gracia smoked a ball into the right-center gap. Instead, Jackson Freeman came down at the wall with the ball in his glove to put a damper on the frame.
Inheriting two runners and no outs, the Katy, Texas, native stifled the Wildcats. The first batter he faced laid down a bunt that Easterly attacked and fired to third to nab the lead runner, and an ensuing double play froze the deficit at one.
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Ryan Higgins took the ball to start for Pollard’s bunch, but his outing did not last long. After giving up a leadoff double to start the game, the senior was tagged for a two-run bomb off the bat of Freeman. The New Canaan, Conn., native labored through the rest of the first, but another two-run shot the next frame chased him out of the game in favor of Nard.
Thankfully, Duke did not come up empty in its first six outs either. Miller clubbed a solo strike in the bottom of the first — pushing his season total to a team-high six.
Sunday
For the first time all season, Duke broke out the brooms. Behind an explosive first inning and an excellent combined effort from the pitching staff, the Blue Devils took a 11-2 victory against Northwestern to sweep the three-game set.
“I thought that we started to play more clean. We're starting to clean up some of the mistakes that led to big innings early,” Pollard said. “We started to be more opportunistic at the plate, but we're continuing to take the free offense when it's there.”
The Wildcats made Blue Devil starter James Tallon work early. The Arlington, Va., native faced seven hitters in the top of the first, walking three and throwing 31 pitches. After issuing a free pass with the bases loaded to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead, Tallon was able to work his way out of the jam with a big strikeout.
Duke’s offense was able to respond with ferocity, though. In a shocker, it was Miller again. Clark and Jake Berger worked walks to begin the contest, and the team captain punished the first pitch he saw from Carter Danz for a 3-1 lead.
“It's been Ben Miller playing like Ben Miller, and you know that's going to come,” Pollard said on Miller’s torrid weekend.
Danz never even recorded an out. A Gracia walk and Ben Rounds single ended his day abruptly, as Northwestern brought in Jack Grunkemeyer to try and slow the Blue Devils down. He got two more outs than his teammate, but surrendered more runs. Tyler Albright walked to put three ducks on the pond; Jake Hyde sent them all home with a grand slam. A Johnson single signaled a trip through the order, as Duke had already amassed a 7-1 advantage.
“We did a really good job having an answer. I give Clark a lot of credit. We felt like after Friday night that if we could get a runner on, we could really force the freshmen to have a divided mind… and we would also get some pitches to hit,” Pollard said. “Wallace got to first, and then did a great job of really kind of distracting Danz. And we took advantage of it.”
Miller finally ended the suffering of the Wildcat faithful with a pop fly to center field. The final tally of the monster inning: seven runs, 12 at-bats, three Wildcat pitchers used.
The middle innings were relatively uneventful — not a bad thing for a Duke team trying to cruise to a third-straight victory. A combination of Henry Zatkowski, Aidan Weaver and Hart kept the Wildcats scoreless for five innings after Tallon exited.
The Blue Devil offense provided one final punch in the bottom of the seventh. The first five batters of the frame found themselves on base — oftentimes due to Northwestern miscues. An errant throw on a Clark bunt attempt allowed runners to pick up some extra bags and bring in a run. Two batters later, Miller was beaned to expand the lead. A fielder’s choice and passed ball added to the various ways Duke plated runs during the frame as the eventual crooked number was four.
Up next, the Blue Devils will host North Carolina A&T Tuesday at 4 p.m.