Late-Inning Runs Propel Duke over Cornell, 3-1

Sunday, February 23

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

1 p.m.

Duke University

6-1

Cornell

0-3

Cornell

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Late-Inning Runs Propel Duke over Cornell, 3-1

2/23/2020 5:27:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Boxscore

DURHAM, N.C. – A two-run frame in the seventh inning proved to be the difference on Sunday afternoon as the 16^th-ranked Duke baseball team claimed a series sweep over Cornell with a 3-1 victory. With the win, the Blue Devils improve to 6-1 on the season, while the Big Red fall to 0-3.

"Give credit to Cornell," said head coach Chris Pollard. "They got better every game this weekend, and that's just a product of them getting more comfortable as they get more field time. They came out and really swung the bats well early. You don't want to make a habit of playing from behind, but you better be comfortable playing from behind because you have to do it sometimes. I thought we never pressed and we finally broke through there in the sixth and the seventh."

Making his first career start, sophomore right-hander Jack Carey turned in a solid outing for the Blue Devils. The Summit, N.J., native worked 4.0 innings, allowing one earned run over five hits and two walks, while striking out five before turning it over to the bullpen.

The Duke relievers were sharp, surrendering only two hits over the final five innings of play. Senior Eli Herrick tossed 2.0 shutout frames, scattering a pair of knocks while racking up two strikeouts. Redshirt freshman Jimmy Loper (1-0) notched his first career win with 1.0 inning of clean work, highlighted by two punchouts. Junior Thomas Giard picked up his second save of the season, covering the final 2.0 innings, while striking out five of the six batters he faced.

Cornell struck first in the series finale, plating one run in the top of the first. The Big Red began the game with three consecutive base hits, before a sacrifice fly to center allowed the game's first run to cross to move Cornell in front, 1-0.

Pitching dominated across the next four frames as the two teams went scoreless before Duke scratched across a run to tie things in the sixth. With two down in the inning, the Blue Devils reached a pair of runners on back-to-back walks to senior Matt Mervis and sophomore Ethan Murray. One batter later, sophomore Rudy Maxwell delivered a RBI double off the left field wall to score Mervis and even things at one apiece.

The Blue Devils moved ahead in the seventh, tallying two runs in the frame. In a pinch-hit effort, sophomore RJ Schreck led off the inning with a five-pitch walk, before redshirt sophomore Wil Hoyle entered in to pinch run. Junior Joey Loperfido laid down a bunt single in the next at-bat, followed by a sacrifice bunt placed runners on second and third with one down.

One batter later, junior Michael Rothenberg capitalized on the runs-scoring opportunity with a RBI single to center field to plate one. Mervis followed with a hard-hit ball up the middle, scoring another run for Duke to set the score at 3-1, the eventual final.

Duke returns to the diamond tomorrow afternoon for the final game of its homestand. The Blue Devils are set to host Air Force to conclude their four-day stretch. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with action airing live 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".

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