Veteran Guidance Levels Series on Saturday

Saturday, March 8

Durham, N.C.

3 p.m.

Duke University

9-6, 1-1

California

7-7, 1-1

California

Duke

Veteran Guidance Levels Series on Saturday

3/8/2025 7:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)

DURHAM – In a tie game in the bottom of the sixth inning, senior Wallace Clark singled to left center field to score Ben Rounds from second, giving Duke (9-6, 1-1 ACC) the lead for good to level the series over California (7-7, 1-1 ACC), 6-2.

Senior Ryan Higgins started on the mound for Duke and produced 3.2 innings on the mound, allowing one run on five hits and punching out four batters. Higgins did not factor into the decision, facing 17 batters.

Duke opened the scoring in the first inning, as AJ Gracia singled to center field to score Clark from third, 1-0. The Golden Bears responded in the top of the second inning, leveling the score at one. The Blue Devils continued to gut out at-bats, as Andrew Yu found his pitch and lifted a solo home run to right field to give Duke the lead again, 2-1.

Cal continued to chip away, tying the ballgame in the top of the fifth inning, before Duke was able to make their way into the Golden Bears' bullpen. Clark singled to left center field to score Rounds from third, before Jake Berger doubled down the line in right to score Clark from second, 4-2. An inning later, Macon Winslow pinch hit and drove in Gracia from third, before Berger added a bases loaded walk for his second RBI of the day.

Graduate Reid Easterly earned the win in relief, working three innings on the mound and scattering three hits. He allowed one run to score, punching out two batters, as Duke's pitching staff issued two walks all afternoon. Easterly improved to 2-0 on the season, while junior Owen Proksch had a clean ninth inning to secure the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In the bottom of the first inning, AJ Gracia singled to center field to score Wallace Clark from third, 1-0.
Cal responded in the top of the second inning, 1-1.
Andrew Yu gave the Blue Devils the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, hitting a solo home run to right field, 2-1.
The Golden Bears tied the ballgame in the top of the fifth inning, 2-2.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Clark singled to left center field and advanced on a throwing error to score Ben Rounds from third. Jake Berger doubled down the line right to score Clark from second, 4-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Macon Winslow grounded out to shortstop to score Gracia from third. Berger drew a bases loaded walk to score Yu from third, 6-2.

NOTES

Freshman Andrew Bell started his first career in the field on Saturday afternoon, playing third base for the Blue Devils.
Graduate Ben Miller made his first start since 2023 at first base for Duke, after playing third base the entire 2024 season and starting the 2025 season. Miller started all games at first base for Penn in 2024, including their run through the Auburn Regional.
Duke improves to 202-66 (.754) when scoring first since 2016.
Senior Andrew Yu had Duke's lone home run on Saturday, a solo shot in the fourth to lead off the inning. Yu finished the day 2-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI. The home run was Duke's 29th of the season, as the Blue Devils have now homered in 14 of the 15 games this season.
Senior Wallace Clark continues to hit for Duke at the top of the order, finishing the day 1-for-2 with two runs scored and three walks. Clark has now extended his hitting streak to eight games and reached base safely in all 15 contests. The Tulsa, Okla., native has drawn 16 walks this season, second on the team behind Jake Berger (18).
Senior Ryan Higgins started on the mound, working 3.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits. Higgins faced 17 batters, striking out four and walking one.
Graduate Reid Easterly earned his second win in relief, working three innings of three-hit baseball, allowing one run. He punched out two batters and improved to 2-0 on the season.

QUOTES

"I just told our guys I thought we played a great game defensively. Hats off to Kyle Johnson, who shook off last night's outing, went out in right field, and made a couple of incredible plays today. I thought we were really good in all three phases today. We had a couple of huge two-out hits, and we did a great job of bouncing back after a tough night on the mound last night." – Head coach Chris Pollard on his overall thoughts on leveling the series Saturday.
"I don't think you can read a whole lot into it (Friday's run-rule loss to California), except that Cal swung it really well last night. We had 66% strikes last night. We weren't in bad counts. We weren't giving them any free offense. They just hit the ball all over the ballpark and sometimes that is our sport. What I liked about today is that we didn't shy away from the strike zone. We got back into attack mode, and I thought we pitched a good ballgame." – On the response from the squad on Saturday after Friday's loss.

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