Duke Falls Short in 1-0 Pitchers? Duel

Saturday, February 27

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Liberty

Blue Devils Return to ACC Action Against Hokies

Duke Falls Short in 1-0 Pitchers? Duel

2/27/2016 4:34:00 PM | Baseball

Audio Archive: Liberty 1, Duke 0 (Feb. 27, 2016)Box Score (PDF)

By: Duke Sports Information

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – In the first of three meetings with Liberty, Duke came up on the short end of a 1-0 pitchers' duel Saturday afternoon at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Duke (4-2) and Liberty (4-2) combined for 10 hits – five each -- with the Flames able to push the game's lone run across in the top of the seventh.

The teams traded zeroes for the first six frames as both lefty starters – Trent Swart for Duke and Victor Cole for Liberty – made key pitches to keep the game scoreless.

“It was a really good college baseball game,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “Well pitched by both sides. [Victor] Cole threw great for them and Trent [Swart] threw an outstanding game for us. Both teams made really good players to get each pitcher off the field in different spots.”

In his second start of the season, Swart threw 6.0 scoreless innings, scattering four hits and two walks while fanning four in the no decision. The Carlsbad, Calif., native worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and induced a key 4-6-3 double play to prevent a run in the fourth.

Liberty's Cole yielded just one hit – a Zack Kone single in the second -- and two walks in 5.0 frames, adding three strikeouts.

Kone's hit was the first Blue Devil base knock on the day. Sophomore Peter Zyla led the way with two singles while Evan Dougherty chipped in a seventh-inning base hit and Griffin Conine delivered a pinch-hit single in the ninth.

In the bottom of the second, Duke nearly claimed the early advantage on a suicide squeeze. The Liberty defense was just able to tag the runner on an extremely close play at the plate.

Liberty later broke the scoreless stalemate with a manufactured run to start the seventh. Flames' designated hitter Eric Grabowski greeted Duke reliever James Ziemba with a base hit before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Standing at third following a fielder's choice, Grabowski crossed home on the second wild pitch of the inning.

“Just a tough break,” Pollard said. “He advanced to third on a swinging bunt where we may have had an out at second. But I told our guys, you pitch, play defense and give yourself opportunities with runners in scoring position like we did today, you're going to come out on top in more of those games than not.”

Duke put men aboard in each of the final three frames, including loading the bases in the eighth, but could not produce the game-tying RBI.

“We had an answer each time, we just didn't push the run across,” Pollard added. “The seventh and the eighth we had the tying run at third base. We've been on the other end of that too where we've gotten off the field when the other team hasn't picked that run up. But we'll learn from that offensively. It shows resiliency on the part of the guys to have a quick answer like that.”

Ziemba (0-1) wound up with the loss, permitting the one unearned run on one hit over 1.1 innings. He also struck out two and did not walk a batter.

Liberty reliever Zander Clouse (1-0) earned the win following 2.1 shutout innings. Clouse scattered three hits and walked two, but was able to keep the Blue Devils off the board.

Duke concludes the Caravelle Resort's Baseball at the Beach Tournament Sunday, Feb. 28 against No. 22 Coastal Carolina. First pitch between the Blue Devils and the Chanticleers is slated for 2 p.m., from Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C. Pregame coverage begins on GoDuke.com at 1:45 p.m.

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