Duke wins pair of midweek games thanks to walk-off heroics from Noah Murray, Sam Harris

Usually, college baseball’s most exciting games are reserved for the weekends, when conference rivals battle it out in a three-game series. But, a pair of midweek walk-offs gave the Blue Devils plenty of fireworks at Jack Coombs field.

Tuesday vs. William & Mary

Duke’s midweek slate began with a gritty battle. The Blue Devils found themselves in an extra-inning showdown for the second time in just four days, pulling off a 3-2 victory thanks to a clutch at-bat from sophomore Noah Murray in the 12th.

The start of Tuesday’s game, however, did little to foreshadow its dramatic end. Though each team put a run on the board in the first inning, the Blue Devils and the Tribe soon found themselves in an early stalemate. They posted nearly identical strike percentages of 61.7% and 62%, respectively, while also hitting a twin .273 (3-for-11) by the end of the third.

“The reality is, early on, we hit three balls that most of the spring would have sailed out of this ballpark,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “When they didn't, I thought our guys tightened up a little bit … and then we had opportunities that we didn't capitalize on. You just have to keep playing.”

Max Stammel kept the Tribe under control for most of that stretch, pitching three innings for the Blue Devils after Gabe Nard’s opening frame. The freshman allowed just three hits and one run, which slipped through at the top of the fourth when William & Mary freshman Jamie Laskofski doubled down the left-field line for an RBI. Duke (22-12, 8-7 in the ACC) was unable to immediately answer the visitors’ 2-1 lead.

“Credit to our pitching staff for keeping us in the game,” Pollard said. “I thought our pitching staff was incredibly tough. You know, that's a [William & Mary] offense that was batting .330 coming into today's game. They were averaging about nine-and-a-half runs a game. Our pitching staff had to pick up our offense today, and some days, that's the way our game works.” 

The Blue Devils did entertain with some defensive theatrics in the sixth inning. Tribe hitter Christian Rush grounded the ball near the left-field line, but Ben Miller spun around to scoop it up and launch the out over to first base. After a second William & Mary batter grounded out to second, Andrew Yu sent his hat flying while sprinting to a second base pop-up. 

So the Blue Devils made quick work of the Tribe in the top of the 10th, forcing a successive fly out, ground out and strikeout. William & Mary answered by keeping Duke scoreless to send the game to the 11th, where Ryan Calvert stepped in to keep the game tied. 

It almost ended in the bottom of that inning. Bell drew a walk for the Blue Devils, then advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a fly-out. When Berger grounded out and the Tribe intentionally walked Miller, Hyde stepped up to bat with yet another opportunity to bring his teammate home. The Georgetown transfer instead struck out, falling to his knees when the final swing came up short. 

Onto the 12th inning.

Laskofksi gave Duke a scare, making it all the way to third base with two outs before Albright caught a long fly ball to send the visitors back to their dugout without the critical run. He earned jubilant cheers from his teammates, opened the bottom of the inning with a walk and then slid into third off a single from Macon Winslow. 

Yu attempted to end the game as it neared the four-hour mark; instead, he ground out and Winslow dashed to second. That brought up pinch-hitter Murray, who singled to left field and delivered the long-awaited third run as the Blue Devils flooded out of the dugout in celebration.

“What a great at-bat by Noah Murray,” Pollard said with a smile. “That’s a guy that really deserves that moment.”

Wednesday vs. Campbell

Duke returned to the field in high spirits less than 24 hours later, eager to avenge an early-season road loss against Campbell. While the Camels turned in a 7-2 lead by the seventh inning, the Blue Devils embarked on an eight-run comeback to secure a 10-7 victory. Harris sealed the win with a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning.

“The conversation starts and ends with Sam Harris,” Pollard said. “I’m really thrilled for that kid. He works his tail off. He's been in and out of the lineup a lot, and that's hard, but he stayed really patient, and man, he's made the most of it here over the last two days.”

Harris stepped up to bat with a one-run deficit looming large on the scoreboard. He had three teammates on base, but the Blue Devils had already racked up two outs.

Moments earlier, Winslow had hit a single and given Albright a slim window of opportunity from second base. The junior rounded third at a full sprint as the Camels scooped up the ball, managing to slide home safely and bring Harris up to bat with only one run needed for the tie.

But the first pitch Harris swung at went foul, clinking its way all the way over the back canopy. With nerves shaken out, he squared up and slammed the next ball over the fence to cap off an eight-run comeback and clinch the 10-7 win.

“I felt like I'd been seeing it well all night,” Harris said. “Had a couple hits prior to that, and honestly, was just looking for a fastball. [Bryce Schares] started off with a changeup. I saw it well, fouled it off. And then went back to my approach, just sticking with a fastball and trying to drive it into the opposite field … It worked out well.”

Harris almost never had the chance to swing. Earlier in the inning, a single from Jake Hyde was initially ruled a groundout — and temporarily ended the game with the Blue Devils down by two. Only after video review was the call overturned, bringing up Winslow and eventually Harris for the game-saving moment.

Duke laid the groundwork for those final hits with heroics in the eighth inning. Miller, facing a five-run deficit, sent a ball just past the outstretched glove of Campbell first baseman Joey Morton for a double down the right-field line. The Blue Devils then loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch, ground-out and walk before Harris singled to bring Miller across the plate, making the score 3-7.

Murray stepped up next with the bases still loaded, fresh off his game-saving at-bat the night before. The pinch hitter singled through the left side for an RBI that brought Yu home — but not before Albright also scored, unearned, on a passed ball. By the time the eighth inning wrapped up, the Blue Devils had cut their deficit to just two. Freshman Henry Zatkowski took the mound to strike out two batters, cap the Camels at seven runs and set the stage for the victory. 

The visitors built an early lead with impressive hitting of their own. Charlie Meglio slammed a two-RBI homer in the second inning, and Campbell added a methodical run in the third to make the score 3-0.

Duke showed some firepower in the fourth when Yu sent a rocket over the left center field fence for two RBIs of his own. Though the home team made quick work of the Camels in the fifth with freshman Collins Black on the mound, the inning still ended with the score 3-2 in Campbell’s favor. 

In fact, the Camels almost dashed all hopes of a comeback when they lit up in the sixth inning. Meglio hit a three-run homer in his third at-bat of the evening to jump Campbell up 6-2. When Schramm doubled down the left-field line for an RBI to make it a four-run inning, the Blue Devils stared down a 2-7 deficit. Two Duke strikeouts and a groundout to close the sixth put a damper over the darkening field. 

Durham’s squad never gave in. 

“I'm incredibly proud of our team and our resilience,” Pollard said. “Obviously, we're dog-tired. We knew that coming into today. We knew we had a lot of pitchers step up, who had maybe thrown a lot of late, to keep us in the ball game. I thought the ability of our staff to give us three zeros there in the seventh, eighth and ninth [to] keep the game within striking distance was huge.”

Roman DiGiacomo, Gavin Brown and Zatkowski had strong innings to keep the Camels at bay while the Blue Devil offense sparked. By the end of the game, Duke had improved its hitting percentage with runners in scoring position to .357 in comparison to Campbells’ .250 — just enough to exact revenge for February’s loss and end the midweek slate with two victories.

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