Perez, Urbon Pace Duke in 9-1 Win Over UMES

Tuesday, March 15

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

6:00 PM

Duke University

UMES

Perez, Urbon Pace Duke in 9-1 Win Over UMES

3/15/2016 9:28:00 PM | Baseball

Full Game Replay: Duke 9, UMES 1 BASE vs. UMES: Perez' Three Doubles BASE vs. UMES: Pollard Interview BASE vs. UMES: Urbon Strikes Out Career-High Seven Condensed Game: Duke 9, UMES 1 BASE vs. UMES: Urbon Interview BASE vs. UMES: Perez Interview Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Junior Cris Perez notched four hits and graduate student Kellen Urbon tossed 6.0 scoreless innings to help Duke to a 9-1 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore Tuesday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Perez turned in the first four-hit game of his career, belting three doubles while adding two runs scored and an RBI. Perez paced a Duke (10-7, 1-2 ACC) offense that churned out 12 hits on the day. Redshirt junior Jalen Phillips added two doubles and sophomore Ryan day went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a pair of walks.

“[Perez] swung the bat great,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “Really proud of Cris Perez and really proud of Jalen Phillips coming off the bench. Those were really good at bats. That's a big shot in the arm. Those are two guys we need over the long haul.”

Urbon (3-1) had little trouble dispatching the Hawks' lineup over 6.0 scoreless frames. In his second quality start of the season, Urbon set a career high with seven strikeouts. The San Diego, Calif., native allowed three hits and walked one, throwing 54 of his 74 pitches for strikes.

After the outing, Urbons' ERA dipped to a team-best 0.34, which is also the third-lowest among ACC pitchers this season.

“Another great start by Kellen,” said Pollard. “Really efficient again. Threw a ton of strikes. Really good command of two pitches. He's thrown the ball very well for us.”

UMES starter Chris Melrath (0-1) got off to a rocky start, issuing walks to Duke's first two batters in Ryan Day and Max Miller. Both Day and Miller would score in the inning, crossing home on a Jack Labosky line drive to left field.

Melrath suffered the loss despite settling down after the first. He followed the two-run first with three scoreless innings, ultimately allowing two runs on two hits over 4.0 frames.

The score remained 2-0 in the Blue Devils' favor until the sixth. Phillips doubled and scored on Peter Zyla's RBI base knock. Duke broke the game open the following frame, sending five runs around on three hits, three walks and two UMES errors. Perez scored Duke's final run in the eighth, touching home on Max Miller's RBI single.

Sophomore Mitch Stallings and classmate Jack Labosky each threw a scoreless in relief.

UMES plated its lone run in the ninth on Jamison Trower's second home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. Trower led the Hawks at the plate, going 3-for-4 with the home run.

With the victory, Pollard picked up his 100th win as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Already the first Blue Devil head coach to guide the team to two 30-win seasons in his first three campaigns, he is now the fastest to reach 100 wins at Duke.

Next up, Duke is set to host No. 10 North Carolina Friday-Sunday, March 18-20 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

#GoDuke