Duke Tops UMass Lowell, 9-4

Tuesday, March 8

Durham, N.C.

4:00 P.M.

Duke University

7-5

UMass Lowell

3-7

UMass Lowell

Duke

Duke Tops UMass Lowell, 9-4

3/8/2022 8:45:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score BOX SCORE SEASON STATS COACH POLLARD POSTGAME PHOTO GALLERY

DURHAM – Freshman Alex Mooney hit a grand slam and tallied five RBIs to lead Duke past UMass Lowell on Tuesday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham.

Duke improved to 7-5 on the season while UMass Lowell dipped to 3-7.

"It was kind of a weird, tough night to hit with the 10 HBPs and free offense," head coach Chris Pollard said. "It can be tough to hit in those conditions. I thought we were timely. There in the third when we got the big blow and scored five runs, we did a great job with two strikes and competed well."

Mooney led the Blue Devils offensively with five RBIs, four coming from a grand slam. Graduate student Wil Hoyle finished 2-for-4 on the day with a double and a run scored.

Senior right-handed pitcher Cooper Stinson started on the hill for the Blue Devils and earned the win. A native of Peachtree Corners, Ga., Stinson was extremely efficient through the first five innings, setting the tone for Duke and facing just 16 batters with six strikeouts. He finished the day allowing four runs on four hits and a walk.

"Out of the first 21 hitters that came to the plate, he was ahead of 17 of them," Pollard said of Stinson. "He did a great job of getting on top and pitching with the leverage of the count, and he was able to force a lot of soft contact."

Duke opened the scoring in the third inning as junior Graham Pauley hit a leadoff home run over the right field wall. The Blue Devils then loaded the bases with one out behind a walk and two hit by pitches. With the bases loaded, Mooney hit a grand slam for his first home run as a Blue Devil.

Duke plated another in the bottom of the fourth and fifth to jump out to a 7-0 lead. In the fourth, Duke loaded the bases for the third time in four innings. Graduate student Chris Crabtree hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Hoyle from third. Pauley scored Duke's lone run in the fifth as he scored on a passed ball.

UMass Lowell scored four in the top of the sixth to bring the game within three runs, 7-4. Duke responded well in the bottom frame of the sixth, scoring two more runs on

Veteran relievers graduate student John Natoli and senior Aaron Beasley were valuable out of the bullpen for the Blue Devils. Natoli entered with the bases loaded in the sixth to minimize the damage. He allowed two walks while striking out four in 1.2 scoreless innings of work. Beasley was strong, surrendering just two hits and fanning a pair in two clean innings.

Duke returns to action on Wednesday for game two of the midweek series with UMass Lowell. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and the Varsity Network App.

NOTES:

The Blue Devils three double plays were the most in a single game since against Penn State in 2019.
Mooney's grand slam was the first grand slam by a Blue Devil since Michael Rothenberg hit one against Florida State in the ACC Championship in 2021.
Senior RJ Schreck matched his career high of three walks, last set against NC Central in April 2021.

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