Dougherty Walkoff Single Sends Duke Past No. 10 Cal

Saturday, February 20

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

1:00 PM

Duke University

California

Dougherty Walkoff Single Sends Duke Past No. 10 Cal

2/20/2016 5:29:00 PM | Baseball

Baseball Audio Archive: Duke 6, Cal 5 (Feb. 20, 2016)Dougherty Postgame Interview: Duke 6, Cal 5 Pollard Postgame Interview: Duke 6, Cal 5 Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Deadlocked at 5-5 after nine innings, Duke sophomore center fielder Evan Dougherty laced a two-out RBI walkoff single to propel the Blue Devils past No. 10 Cal, 6-5, in 10 innings Saturday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The Duke (1-1) 10th-inning rally began with two outs on a Zack Kone infield single. Freshman Jimmy Herron lined a double to right field to keep the inning alive, setting the table for Dougherty's game-winning base knock.

“I was looking for a good pitch to hit,” Dougherty said. “Once I got two strikes on me, I was pretty much trying to battle and put it in play. I got a fastball that was in the heart of the zone and put a good swing on it.”

Six Blue Devil underclassmen notched two or more hits in the contest, led by Herron in his first collegiate start with three. Dougherty, Kone, Max Miller, Ryan Day and Chris Proctor added two hits each as Duke totaled 13 on the day.

“It was great,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “You've got two freshmen coming up [with two outs in the 10th inning]. Kone does a great job and how about Jimmy Herron? We put our fastest lineup out there today and our speed really made a difference. We were able to put a lot of pressure on their defense and forced them into hurry situations.”

Cal (1-1)jumped out to an early lead, taking advantage of a Duke fielding error to send around two unearned runs in the top of the first. A miscue with two outs extended the inning, ultimately leading to a Nick Halamandaris single with the bases loaded.

Cal tacked on a third run in the second, benefitting from a Robbie Tenerowicz leadoff double. Duke starter Trent Swart struck out the side, but not before Austin Knapp laced an RBI single to centerfield.

Neither starter factored in the decision. Swart returned to the mound after missing 2015 due to an elbow injury and allowed three runs - one earned – on five hits over three innings while striking out four. Cal's Ryan Mason pitched six complete innings, yielding five runs – four earned – on nine hits.

“Trent threw the ball well,” Pollard added. “I thought his stuff was good. Produced a lot of swings and misses.”

Duke broke out for five runs on five hits to gain the lead in the third. Proctor started the rally with a double inside the left field line and Miller blasted an RBI double off the Blue Monster to score Duke's first run of the game. Day added an RBI base knock before back-to-back walks to Jack Labosky and Jalen Phillips loaded the bases. Kone's first collegiate hit – a two-run single up the middle – gave Duke its first lead of the day. Herron finished off the scoring, hustling down the line to beat out an infield single and force a Cal throwing error that plated Phillips.

“[Ryan] Mason was getting ready to get really dialed in,” Pollard said. “And once that guy gets dialed in, he's tough. Those at bats in the third, they were big.”
The two-run Duke lead stood until the fifth when Cal knotted the score at five-all. After drawing a leadoff walk, Brenden Farney scored on a Halamandaris RBI triple. Preston Grand Pre then sent an RBI groundout to short for the Bears' second run of the frame.

Following a solid performance from redshirt sophomore James Ziemba, senior Nick Hendrix entered the game in the eighth and shut out the Bears the rest of the way to earn the win. The left-hander from Arlington, Texas worked out a jam in the ninth, registering three-straight outs after Cal began the frame with a pair of base hits. He then turned in a perfect top of the 10th before Duke scored the winning run in the bottom half.

“He's a guy we place a lot of trust in,” Pollard said. “He's a competitor. When you're going for that first win of the season, it felt like bringing him in there in the eighth was the right decision. It was an easy call to send him back out there in the 10th. He was throwing the ball great. That was the right guy you want there in that moment.”

Cal's Tanner Dodson suffered the loss. He allowed the one run on four hits over 3.2 innings.

Duke and Cal return Sunday, Feb. 21 for the rubber match at 11 a.m., from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

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