Swart Gem, Five-Run Fifth Lift Duke Past Toledo

Saturday, March 5

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

5:00 PM

Duke University

Toledo

Blue Devils Return to ACC Action Against Hokies

Swart Gem, Five-Run Fifth Lift Duke Past Toledo

3/5/2016 8:47:00 PM | Baseball

BASE vs. TOLEDO: Swart Tosses 7 Scoreless BASE vs. TOLEDO: Day Postgame Interview BASE vs. TOLEDO: Duke's Five-Run Fifth BASE vs. TOLEDO: Pollard Postgame Interview DUKE vs. TOLEDO: Audio Archive (March 5, 2016)BASE vs. TOLEDO: Swart Postgame Interview Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Graduate student Trent Swart tossed 7.0 scoreless innings and Duke put five runs on the board in the fifth as the Blue Devils earned a 6-1 victory over Toledo Saturday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Swart (1-0) was outstanding in his second-consecutive quality start, fanning eight without walking a Rocket batter. He yielded just two hits – both singles – and retired 15 of the final 16 batters he faced to extend his scoreless inning streak to 14.0 frames.

“[Trent's] fun to watch,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “The way he competes, the way he moves the baseball around, the way he changes speeds. He was in complete control. As a coach, it's fun to sit over there and watch him.”

Sophomore Ryan Day had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in two RBI to aid the offense. Classmate Jack Laboksy went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored while sophomore Peter Zyla was 2-for-4 with two runs scored. That trio accounted for seven of Duke's 10 hits on the night.

Following a scoreless opening frame, Duke struck first with a lone run in the bottom of the second. Zyla lined a one-out single to center field, the first of two base hits for the Duke right fielder. Following a Day double, a wild pitch allowed Zyla to scamper home with the game's first run.

Duke's one-run lead stood until the fifth when the Blue Devil bats broke out for five runs on five hits. With runners on first and second, Labosky launched a two-run double to right center. The Blue Devils received three-straight hits with two outs, beginning with a Griffin Conine RBI base hit up the middle. Zyla kept the rally going with another base knock and Day delivered his second double of the night, driving in two runs with a shot off the Blue Monster.

“The two at bats that were the most impressive to me in the ballgame were Griffin Conine's two-out at bat and Rayn Day's two-out at bat after they made the pitching change,” Pollard said. “Those are daggers. [Toledo] was close to getting off the field there with two outs, but those two at bats put a game out of reach to a degree.”

Six runs were more than enough for the Duke pitching staff. Toledo scratched across a run to start the eighth, benefitting from a John Martillotta leadoff single followed by a walk. Matt Hansen drove in the Rocket's only run of the game with a two-out RBI single.

Junior Karl Blum came in and recorded the final four outs of the game, striking out three of the five batters he faced.

Toledo's Ross Achter (0-3) suffered the loss after permitting six runs on eight hits over 4.2 frames. Achter walked three and struck out one.

Duke and Toledo meet for the series finale at 1 p.m., Sunday, March 6 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Blue Devils' Brian McAfee is on the mound opposite the Rockets' Sam Shutes. Pregame coverage begins on GoDuke.com at 12:45 p.m.

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