Completed Event: Baseball versus Murray State on June 9, 2025 , Loss , 4, to, 5
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Final
Baseball
4
vs Murray State
5
Saturday, February 15
Durham Bulls Athletic Park
1 p.m.
Duke University
1-1
9
vs
8
Army
1-1
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2
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4
5
6
7
8
9
R
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E
Army
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2
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1
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8
8
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Duke
1
0
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4
2
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9
5
2
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Walk-Off Win Caps Duke Comeback over Army Saturday Afternoon
2/15/2020 7:12:00 PM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. – With runners on first and second, senior Chase Cheek sent a line drive to right field that popped out the right fielder's glove to plate the winning run and walk it off, 9-8, for Duke baseball against Army West Point on Saturday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. With the win, the Blue Devils improve to 1-1 on the season and even the series with the Black Knights at one apiece.
"That win showed some toughness," said head coach Chris Pollard. "It was not good baseball for us. We made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes and we did a lot of things that we don't coach. We had some guys trying to press, and I think we also saw some of that last night. I think we did a better job of being aggressive as the game moved along."
The Blue Devils entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 8-7. With one down, sophomore Ethan Murray drew a four-pitch walk before junior Michael Rothenberg was hit by a pitch to place runners on first and second. After Duke turned to redshirt freshman Jake Topolski to pinch run for Rothenberg, senior Matt Mervis reached on walk to load the bases.
With nowhere to put them, freshman Britt Fuller rose to the occasion in a pinch-hit effort, sending a sacrifice fly to left field to register his first career RBI and even the score at eight apiece. One batter later, Cheek brought across the game-winning run on a fielding error by the Army right fielder, resulting in the Duke walk-off win.
Army built an early 7-1 lead across the first four innings of play. After an early exit from freshman starter Henry Williams, Duke turned to the trio of sophomore Aaron Beasley, junior Josh Nifong and sophomore Jack Carey for a strong effort over the final 8.1 frames of the contest. Nifong worked a career-high 3.2 scoreless innings, scattering three hits while racking up a career-high five strikeouts. Carey (1-0) picked up the win, tossing the final 2.0 frames, allowing one earned run on one hit, while yielding one walk and registering one punchout.
Army struck early with one run in the first. The leadoff man reached on a hit-by-pitch before back-to-back walks loaded the bases for the Black Knights. A double-play ball in the next at-bat resulted in a run scored for Army to make it a 1-0 ballgame after half an inning of play.
The Blue Devils bounced back to even the score with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. A pair of walks to junior Joey Loperfido and Rothenberg placed runners on first and second with one out. One batter later, Mervis lined a RBI double to right center to plate Duke's first run of the day and even the score after one full.
The Black Knights tallied six runs across the second, third and fourth innings, scoring two runs in each inning to build a six-run lead before the Duke offense came alive in the sixth to begin the comeback effort.
Freshman Grant Norris began the rally in the sixth, reaching on a one-out walk. One batter later, Murray and Rothenberg drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with two down for the senior co-captain Mervis. Facing a 1-2 count, Mervis crushed a ball over the right field bleachers to mark his first career grand slam and trim the Duke deficit to 7-5.
The Blue Devils returned to the dish to plate two more runs in the seventh to make it a 7-7 contest. The inning began with back-to-back walks to Cheek and junior Chris Crabtree, before senior Erikson Nichols advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. In the next at-bat, Norris registered his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it a one-run ballgame. After two more walks loaded the bases for Duke, a wild pitch brought across the second run of the inning to knot the contest at seven apiece.
Army responded in the very next frame with one run in the eighth to regain its lead. The Black Knights used a leadoff walk followed by a sacrifice bunt to place a runner in scoring position. One batter later, a RBI double to left center plated the go-ahead run to place Army in front, 8-7.
After going scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, the Blue Devils went on to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback and clinch the walk-off victory.
Mervis highlighted the Duke offense, finishing 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBI, one walk and one run scored. Murray recorded a team-high two runs scored, while the freshman duo of Fuller and Norris combined for the team's other two RBI.
The Blue Devils resume the series at 1 p.m. Saturday with rubber match. Fans can catch all of the action on ACC Network Extra.
For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBaseball". You can also find all-access coverage of all Duke athletic programs on SnapChat by searching for "dukeathletics".
#GoDuke
"That win showed some toughness," said head coach Chris Pollard. "It was not good baseball for us. We made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes and we did a lot of things that we don't coach. We had some guys trying to press, and I think we also saw some of that last night. I think we did a better job of being aggressive as the game moved along."
The Blue Devils entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 8-7. With one down, sophomore Ethan Murray drew a four-pitch walk before junior Michael Rothenberg was hit by a pitch to place runners on first and second. After Duke turned to redshirt freshman Jake Topolski to pinch run for Rothenberg, senior Matt Mervis reached on walk to load the bases.
With nowhere to put them, freshman Britt Fuller rose to the occasion in a pinch-hit effort, sending a sacrifice fly to left field to register his first career RBI and even the score at eight apiece. One batter later, Cheek brought across the game-winning run on a fielding error by the Army right fielder, resulting in the Duke walk-off win.
Army built an early 7-1 lead across the first four innings of play. After an early exit from freshman starter Henry Williams, Duke turned to the trio of sophomore Aaron Beasley, junior Josh Nifong and sophomore Jack Carey for a strong effort over the final 8.1 frames of the contest. Nifong worked a career-high 3.2 scoreless innings, scattering three hits while racking up a career-high five strikeouts. Carey (1-0) picked up the win, tossing the final 2.0 frames, allowing one earned run on one hit, while yielding one walk and registering one punchout.
Army struck early with one run in the first. The leadoff man reached on a hit-by-pitch before back-to-back walks loaded the bases for the Black Knights. A double-play ball in the next at-bat resulted in a run scored for Army to make it a 1-0 ballgame after half an inning of play.
The Blue Devils bounced back to even the score with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. A pair of walks to junior Joey Loperfido and Rothenberg placed runners on first and second with one out. One batter later, Mervis lined a RBI double to right center to plate Duke's first run of the day and even the score after one full.
The Black Knights tallied six runs across the second, third and fourth innings, scoring two runs in each inning to build a six-run lead before the Duke offense came alive in the sixth to begin the comeback effort.
Freshman Grant Norris began the rally in the sixth, reaching on a one-out walk. One batter later, Murray and Rothenberg drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with two down for the senior co-captain Mervis. Facing a 1-2 count, Mervis crushed a ball over the right field bleachers to mark his first career grand slam and trim the Duke deficit to 7-5.
The Blue Devils returned to the dish to plate two more runs in the seventh to make it a 7-7 contest. The inning began with back-to-back walks to Cheek and junior Chris Crabtree, before senior Erikson Nichols advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. In the next at-bat, Norris registered his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly to center field to make it a one-run ballgame. After two more walks loaded the bases for Duke, a wild pitch brought across the second run of the inning to knot the contest at seven apiece.
Army responded in the very next frame with one run in the eighth to regain its lead. The Black Knights used a leadoff walk followed by a sacrifice bunt to place a runner in scoring position. One batter later, a RBI double to left center plated the go-ahead run to place Army in front, 8-7.
After going scoreless in the bottom of the eighth, the Blue Devils went on to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback and clinch the walk-off victory.
Mervis highlighted the Duke offense, finishing 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBI, one walk and one run scored. Murray recorded a team-high two runs scored, while the freshman duo of Fuller and Norris combined for the team's other two RBI.
The Blue Devils resume the series at 1 p.m. Saturday with rubber match. Fans can catch all of the action on ACC Network Extra.
For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBaseball". You can also find all-access coverage of all Duke athletic programs on SnapChat by searching for "dukeathletics".
#GoDuke
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Carey, Jack (1-0)
L: Flannery, Harry (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Macias, Carter 1
RBI: Macias, Carter 3 ; Giachin, Anthony 1 ; Cerruto, Cameron 1 ; Adams, Jeremiah 1 ; Simoes, Tim 1
SH: Duburle, Kevin 2
SF: Giachin, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hurtubise, Jacob 2 ; Macias, Carter 1 ; Walden, Andre 1 ; Adams, Jeremiah 1 ; McKenna, John 1 ; Simoes, Tim 2
SB: Walden, Andre 1
HBP: Hurtubise, Jacob 1 ; McKenna, John 1 ; Simoes, Tim 1
PO: Macias, Carter 1
Batting:
2B: Rothenberg, Michael 1 ; Mervis, Matt 1
HR: Mervis, Matt 1
RBI: Mervis, Matt 5 ; Fuller, Britt 1 ; Norris, Grant 1
SH: Cheek, Chase 1 ; Nichols, Erikson 1
SF: Fuller, Britt 1 ; Norris, Grant 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Loperfido, Joey 1 ; Murray, Ethan 2 ; Rothenberg, Michael 1 ; Topolski, Jake 1 ; Mervis, Matt 1 ; Cheek, Chase 1 ; Crabtree, Chris 1 ; Norris, Grant 1
HBP: Loperfido, Joey 1 ; Rothenberg, Michael 2 ; Maxwell, Rudy 1 ; Crabtree, Chris 1 ; Norris, Grant 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
5
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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