Duke Drops Series Finale to No. 1 Miami

Sunday, April 17

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

1:00 PM

Duke University

Miami

Duke Drops Series Finale to No. 1 Miami

4/17/2016 5:10:00 PM | Baseball

BASE vs. MIAMI: Pollard Interview BASE vs. MIAMI: Audio Archive Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Zack Collins launched a three-run third-inning homer and the Hurricanes received RBI singles from four different players to capture the series final, 9-0, over Duke Sunday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Miami (29-5, 13-3 ACC) totaled 13 hits to Duke's eight. The Hurricanes were able to capitalize on their scoring chances, going 8-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranding six. Duke (20-17, 7-11 ACC) put the leadoff man aboard in five frames, but were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, grounded into two doubles plays and left eight runners on base.

Nine of the teams' combined 21 hits were infield singles, including five for Miami and four for Duke.

“It was kind of a unique game,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “I thought we took pretty good swings. We were on time. We were balanced. Got the leadoff guy on quite a bit. We played good defense. We never pushed runs across and [Miami was] very opportunistic. Lot more competitive game than the score would indicate.”

Seven Hurricane runs came between the third and the fifth. Duke starter Brian McAfee (5-3) retired the first seven Miami batters he faced before encountering trouble in the third. Peter Crocitto doubled off the Blue Monster followed by back-to-back singles from Batista and Chester. Collins did the bulk of the damage with a three-run homer to right center, his eighth home run of the season.

Miami received five hits – all singles – in a three-run fifth to extend the margin to 7-0.

“I told McAfee that except for two innings he executed perfectly,” Pollard said. “Infield hits, kind of seeing-eye ground balls … you tip your hat. We were one pitch away from getting off the field there with one run crossing in the third. That was a big blow. We don't want to give [Zack] Collins a pitch to handle in that situation.”

McAfee exited the game after the fifth. He surrendered seven runs on 10 hits over five innings, striking out three without walking a batter.

Senior Nick Hendrix and sophomore Ryan Day kept the Hurricanes for a combined three scoreless innings in relief.

“Hendrix and Day threw the ball really well,” Pollard said. “Guys came in and threw the ball well. We gave up two walks and struck out [six]. We pitched well. It's a unique game where [Miami] took advantage of every opportunity they had and we didn't take advantage of the opportunities that we had.”

The Hurricanes tacked on two runs to start the ninth, scoring the first on wild pitch and a Brandon Lopez RBI single.

Miami starter Danny Garcia (6-3) tossed seven shutouts innings, followed by a scoreless inning each from Frankie Bartow and Bryan Garcia.

Duke hits the road for a midweek contest at Liberty Tuesday, April 19. That contest against the Flames is the first of eight straight road games for the Blue Devils.

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