No. 6 Duke Drops First Series of the Season on Sunday

Sunday, March 17

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

15-5, 1-2

Clemson

17-2, 2-1

Clemson

Duke

No. 6 Duke Drops First Series of the Season on Sunday

3/17/2024 5:53:00 PM | Baseball

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DURHAM – No. 6 Duke (15-5, 3-3 ACC) had the tying runs on base in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday, but were unable to push them across, as No. 10 Clemson (17-2, 2-1 ACC) claimed the series over the Blue Devils, 8-6.

Graduate closer Charlie Beilenson was pegged with the loss on Sunday, working 1.2 innings and striking out four batters. He entered the game with the score line tied and allowed four runs on five hits. Sophomore Ryan Higgins worked 3.2 innings in relief for the Blue Devils, striking out four after a short start by Tim Noone.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Clemson opened the scoring in the top of the first, 2-0.
Ben Miller hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first, 2-1.
In the bottom of the third, Logan Bravo scored on a passed ball, 2-2.
The Tigers regained the lead in the top of the sixth, 3-2.
Clemson extended their lead in the top of the eighth, 5-2.
AJ Gracia hit a two-run home run to right field. Wallace Clark flew out to left field to score Devin Obee from third in the bottom of the eighth, 5-5.
Clemson took the lead in the top of the 10th, 8-5.
Clark hit a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the 10th, 8-6.

NOTES

Graduate Tim Noone tallied his first weekend start for the Blue Devils, working 1.1 inning and allowing two runs on one hit.
Graduate Ben Miller crushed his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot to left center field in the bottom of the first. He Finished the day 2-for-5 with one run and one RBI.
Sophomore Ryan Higgins took over for Noone in the top of the second inning, working 3.2 innings in relief. He allowed one unearned run and struck out four over that stretch.
Graduate Zac Morris extended his hitting streak to 15 games on Sunday, now leading the team with the longest this season. He finished the day 3-for-6, his seventh multi-hit contest of the season.
Freshman AJ Gracia gave the Blue Devils a jolt in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a two-run home run to right field. The bomb was his sixth of the season, moving him closer to the single-season freshman home run record set by Andrew Fischer last season (11).

QUOTES

"What a series we had this weekend. Two really good teams going back and fourth and I thought both teams really competed this weekend at a high level. Credit to Clemson, they played really well. We had our chances throughout the first half of the game and they were able to escape those jams. The bottom line in the 10th, we asked a lot of Charlie Beilenson to go back out there in the 10th. He had given us a really good inning in the ninth to give us a chance to win the ballgame, but those runs aren't on him they are on me." – Head coach Chris Pollard on his thoughts on the series and how Sunday concluded.
"I thought Higgins was terrific. He had three pitches in the zone and his fastball was live. He got swing and miss on the slider and changeup. He got us off the field in the second when that game could have got away from us and it was a heck of an effort." – On the outing Ryan Higgins produced on Sunday.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils conclude the six-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Towson at Jack Coombs Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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