Completed Event: Baseball versus Murray State on June 9, 2025 , Loss , 4, to, 5
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Final
Baseball
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vs Murray State
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Walk-Off Wednesday: Hit-By-Pitch Seals the Series Opener with Notre Dame
4/29/2020 10:30:00 AM | Baseball
The Duke baseball program is set to look back at some of its memorable walk-off wins from over the years in a series titled "Walk-Off Wednesday". Let's take a look back at the Blue Devils' walk-off victory over Notre Dame during the 2018 season.
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In the series opener with Notre Dame, the Blue Devils found themselves trailing by three runs in the ninth and down to their final three outs. Duke rallied for four runs on five hits to claim a 5-4 victory over the Fighting Irish in the first game of the series en route to a weekend sweep.
Irish starter Scott Tully stymied the Blue Devil offense for eight innings, allowing Notre Dame to stake a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Duke had just two singles against Tully prior to registering five hits versus the Irish bullpen in the ninth.
"We were down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth, and I remember Coach Pollard and Max (Miller) coming up to us and just letting us know that we've been here and we've faced adversity before," designated hitter Michael Smiciklas said. "We needed to just trust ourselves and we were going to get through this."
With Tully out of the game, Kennie Taylor and Jimmy Herron ignited the rally with back-to-back singles. Zack Kone ripped an RBI single up the middle to trim the margin to 4-2. Down to the final out, Jack Labosky laced an RBI base knock to make it a one-run contest before Chris Proctor beat out an RBI infield single to even the score at four apiece.
After Max Miller drew a walk to load the bases with two down, Notre Dame made a call to its bullpen to bring in its third reliever of the inning. Facing the new pitcher, Smiciklas was hit by the second
pitch of the at-bat to plate the game-winning run and to complete the comeback and give Duke the walkoff victory.
"Max comes up and he ends up walking, and I get the opportunity to win the game for us," Smiciklas added. The pitcher was struggling to throw strikes, so I decided to crowd the plate and I wasn't going to let him beat me inside. He threw me a breaking ball that bent over the right side of me and hit me in the back. I'm running down first base and my emotions were crazy. It just showed everybody working together and believing in themselves. That was just little sliver of our season and why were able to make it so far and be one game away from Omaha."
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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#GoDuke
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In the series opener with Notre Dame, the Blue Devils found themselves trailing by three runs in the ninth and down to their final three outs. Duke rallied for four runs on five hits to claim a 5-4 victory over the Fighting Irish in the first game of the series en route to a weekend sweep.
Irish starter Scott Tully stymied the Blue Devil offense for eight innings, allowing Notre Dame to stake a 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Duke had just two singles against Tully prior to registering five hits versus the Irish bullpen in the ninth.
"We were down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth, and I remember Coach Pollard and Max (Miller) coming up to us and just letting us know that we've been here and we've faced adversity before," designated hitter Michael Smiciklas said. "We needed to just trust ourselves and we were going to get through this."
With Tully out of the game, Kennie Taylor and Jimmy Herron ignited the rally with back-to-back singles. Zack Kone ripped an RBI single up the middle to trim the margin to 4-2. Down to the final out, Jack Labosky laced an RBI base knock to make it a one-run contest before Chris Proctor beat out an RBI infield single to even the score at four apiece.
After Max Miller drew a walk to load the bases with two down, Notre Dame made a call to its bullpen to bring in its third reliever of the inning. Facing the new pitcher, Smiciklas was hit by the second
pitch of the at-bat to plate the game-winning run and to complete the comeback and give Duke the walkoff victory.
"Max comes up and he ends up walking, and I get the opportunity to win the game for us," Smiciklas added. The pitcher was struggling to throw strikes, so I decided to crowd the plate and I wasn't going to let him beat me inside. He threw me a breaking ball that bent over the right side of me and hit me in the back. I'm running down first base and my emotions were crazy. It just showed everybody working together and believing in themselves. That was just little sliver of our season and why were able to make it so far and be one game away from Omaha."
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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#GoDuke
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