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Duke Wraps Up Fall Exhibitions with NC State
10/22/2021 10:40:00 PM | Baseball
DURHAM – The Duke baseball team concluded its fall exhibition schedule on Friday with a 12-inning game against NC State at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
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Each team batted 10 players in the exhibition and the game was not officially scored, rather individual stats were kept.
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"First off, what a great night," Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. "I would have never thought eight or 10 years ago that we would put this kind of crowd out in the DBAP on a fall night in October. It's a great testament to both programs, NC State and ours, that would get this type of atmosphere in a fall baseball game.
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"I'm really excited about what I saw out of a lot of our guys. Just like last week against Davidson, we ran out all our young guys. A lot of those guys passed the test again, and some didn't but that is part of the learning process that happens in the fall. There were a lot of good things, this was a really good growing opportunity for us to have an ACC style atmosphere against a top-25 team, it is a really good litmus test."
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Sophomore southpaw Luke Fox made his first exhibition appearance of the fall, starting on the bump for the Blue Devils. The Freshman All-American allowed one hit while striking out five in three scoreless innings.
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Freshmen Jonathan Santucci and Ryan Higgins each got time on the mound. Santucci, a left-hander out of Leominster, Mass., struck out two without allowing a hit in the seventh frame. Higgins allowed one run on one hit and a hit-by-pitch while striking out a pair in two innings of work.
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In the box, sophomore Luke Storm led the way, going 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the fourth inning. Junior Graham Pauley launched a 376-foot home run in the third inning to highlight his day.
Freshmen duo shortstop Alex Mooney and catcher Andrew Yu both started in the field and finished 1-for-2 with a run scored. Prior to pitching the seventh inning, Santucci started the game in left field and went 1-for-2 at the plate.
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Rookie Tyler Christmas and senior Jake Topolski entered as defensive substitutes and made impacts at the plate. Christmas drove in a two-RBI double down the right field line in the 11th inning while Topolski finished 2-for-3 at the plate.
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"I really was impressed with NC State's club," Pollard commented. "They did a good job reloading with some transfer players to be really good offensively again, they were a really good offense last year. I think they're going to be really good again this year."
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Duke has a trio of three-game scrimmages remaining to close out the fall slate, capped off with its annual Fall World Series Nov. 11-13 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
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For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBaseball".
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#GoDuke
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Each team batted 10 players in the exhibition and the game was not officially scored, rather individual stats were kept.
Â
"First off, what a great night," Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. "I would have never thought eight or 10 years ago that we would put this kind of crowd out in the DBAP on a fall night in October. It's a great testament to both programs, NC State and ours, that would get this type of atmosphere in a fall baseball game.
Â
"I'm really excited about what I saw out of a lot of our guys. Just like last week against Davidson, we ran out all our young guys. A lot of those guys passed the test again, and some didn't but that is part of the learning process that happens in the fall. There were a lot of good things, this was a really good growing opportunity for us to have an ACC style atmosphere against a top-25 team, it is a really good litmus test."
Â
Sophomore southpaw Luke Fox made his first exhibition appearance of the fall, starting on the bump for the Blue Devils. The Freshman All-American allowed one hit while striking out five in three scoreless innings.
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.@lukefox85 picking up right where he left off.
— Duke Baseball (@DukeBASE) October 22, 2021
3 IP | 0 R | 1 H | 5 K#BlueCollar | #GoDuke ?????? pic.twitter.com/b3FCwqskWR
Freshmen Jonathan Santucci and Ryan Higgins each got time on the mound. Santucci, a left-hander out of Leominster, Mass., struck out two without allowing a hit in the seventh frame. Higgins allowed one run on one hit and a hit-by-pitch while striking out a pair in two innings of work.
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In the box, sophomore Luke Storm led the way, going 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the fourth inning. Junior Graham Pauley launched a 376-foot home run in the third inning to highlight his day.
Freshmen duo shortstop Alex Mooney and catcher Andrew Yu both started in the field and finished 1-for-2 with a run scored. Prior to pitching the seventh inning, Santucci started the game in left field and went 1-for-2 at the plate.
Â
Rookie Tyler Christmas and senior Jake Topolski entered as defensive substitutes and made impacts at the plate. Christmas drove in a two-RBI double down the right field line in the 11th inning while Topolski finished 2-for-3 at the plate.
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"I really was impressed with NC State's club," Pollard commented. "They did a good job reloading with some transfer players to be really good offensively again, they were a really good offense last year. I think they're going to be really good again this year."
Â
Duke has a trio of three-game scrimmages remaining to close out the fall slate, capped off with its annual Fall World Series Nov. 11-13 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Â
For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBaseball".
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#GoDuke
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