Duke Drops Twin Bill at No. 15 Louisville

Saturday, May 8

Louisville, Ky.

1 P.M.

Duke University

20-19, 10-16

Louisville

25-15, 15-10

Duke

Louisville

Duke Drops Twin Bill at No. 15 Louisville

5/8/2021 10:46:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Season Stats Coach Pollard Postgame

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senior Joey Loperfido went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader, but Duke came up short in both games to drop the series at No. 15 Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Duke (20-20, 10-17 ACC) lost both games of the doubleheader against Louisville (26-15, 16-10 ACC) and ultimately dropped the series after winning the opener. The Blue Devils fell in game one, 5-1, before coming up short 15-6 in game two on Saturday.

Loperfido led the Blue Devils offensively through both games, finishing a triple shy of the cycle with an RBI and a walk.

Duke fell 5-1 in game one, junior Cooper Stinson started on the bump for the Blue Devils in game one. The 6-6 right-hander put together a strong start, allowing just one run and one hit through five innings pitched, but finished with four runs allowed on four hits, three walks and two batters hit by pitches. Stinson was tagged with the loss and dips to 2-3 on the season.

The Blue Devils matched Louisville in hits with each team recording six. Loperfido's solo shot to left center field in the top of the ninth inning accounted for Duke's lone run.

Sophomore Billy Seidl entered in relief in game one, allowing no hits in 1.2 scoreless innings of work with two punchouts.

Freshman Luke Fox made his first career ACC start in game two. The Waukesha, Wis., native was tagged with the tough-luck loss after allowing seven runs, just one earned, on six hits and a walk. All seven runs allowed came in the fourth inning as the Duke defense committed two errors. The rookie also struck out seven in his time on the hill.

Duke jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the second as a sacrifice fly from graduate student Erikson Nichols plated senior Michael Rothenberg.

The lead would not last long as Louisville broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring eight runs on four hits, a walk and two errors that extended the inning to take an 8-1 lead.

Senior Chris Crabtree helped the Blue Devils get back in the game, 8-6, contributing four runs via a grand slam to right field as Duke plated five in the top of the fifth in response to the Cardinal's big inning.

The Cardinals added another in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run, before putting the game out of reach with a five-run seventh inning to make it 14-6.

Duke returns to Durham for a midweek matchup at Jack Coombs Field as the Blue Devils host Wofford at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Postgame Notes:

Fox's seven strikeouts in game two were a career high.
Murray extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a hit in game one before seeing the streak snap in game two.
Junior southpaw Aaron Beasley made his second appearance of the 2021 season, allowing an unearned run on two hits and striking out three.

#GoDuke