Duke Beats Wake Forest, 11-7; Clinches Series

Sunday, April 18

Durham, N.C.

1 P.M.

Duke University

16-16, 0

Wake Forest

12-17, 0

Wake Forest

Duke

Duke Beats Wake Forest, 11-7; Clinches Series

4/18/2021 5:48:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats Coach Pollard Postgame Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. – Two-run home runs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth proved to be the difference between Duke and Wake Forest as the Blue Devils claimed the series with an 11-7 win on Sunday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham.

Notched 7-7 heading into the seventh inning, graduate student Erikson Nichols hit a two-run home run over the wall in left center field separated the two sides and proved to be the game winning runs.

Graduate student Peter Matt led the Blue Devils offensively, finishing 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and three RBIs. Matt is the first Blue Devil this season to hit two home runs in a game. Nichols finished the day 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.

Junior Cooper Stinson started on the mound for the Blue Devils, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings pitched. A native of Peachtree Corners, Ga., Stinson struck out five.

Duke (16-16, 8-13 ACC) scored the game's first five runs, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after the second. The Blue Devils led off with a double from junior Ethan Murray, an RBI single from junior RJ Schreck and a Matt double started the inning with three consecutive hits. Later in the inning, graduate student Chase Cheek singled through the right side to score another run. Once on the bases, Cheek used two steals to reach third and score on a groundout for the Blue Devils fourth run of the inning.

In the second, sophomore Chad Knight blasted a ball over the left field wall for a solo shot on the first pitch of the inning.

Wake Forest (12-17, 6-14 ACC) got on the board in the top of the fifth inning, scoring six to take a one-run lead. Duke responded in the bottom half, tying the game by a solo home run to right field before a single from senior Chris Crabtree that scored Rothenberg from second gave Duke a 7-6 lead.

Duke added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh and the eighth. Nichols gave Duke the lead on a two-run home run to left center field in the seventh. In the next inning, Matt hit his second home run of the game, this time a two-run shot, to give Duke an 11-7 lead.

Sophomore Marcus Johnson entered the game in the seventh with the score even and dealt a perfect three innings to close the door on the Demon Deacons. The Fontana, Calif., native matched his career high in strikeouts, set on Saturday against Wake Forest, by fanning four of the nine batters faced.

Duke returns to action on Tuesday as the Blue Devils travel to Lynchburg, Va., to face Liberty in midweek action at 6 p.m.

Postgame Notes:

Duke's four runs in the opening frame were the most for the Blue Devils in a first inning this season.
Matt's career-high two home runs in a single game were the most by a Blue Devil in a single game since Kennie Taylor did so against Penn State on March 3, 2019.
Nichols' home run was his second of the season and first since Duke's opening game at Coastal Carolina on Feb. 20.
The Blue Devils hit four home runs in a game for the second time this season, last done at North Carolina on April 12.

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