Duke Secures Fourth Consecutive Run-Rule Victory Over Queens Tuesday

Tuesday, May 6

Durham, N.C.

6 p.m.

Duke University

33-15

Queens

8-39

Queens

Duke

Duke Secures Fourth Consecutive Run-Rule Victory Over Queens Tuesday

5/6/2025 10:35:00 PM | Baseball

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

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke baseball (33-15) secured its fourth consecutive run-rule victory at Jack Coombs Field on Tuesday, defeating Queens University of Charlotte (8-39), 12-2. The Blue Devils used a seven-run bottom of the seventh inning to secure the shortened victory.

Duke opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, as AJ Gracia hit a solo home run to center field, 1-0. In the bottom of the second inning, Ben Rounds joined in on the home run parade, lifting a solo home run to right field. Jake Berger added to the Duke lead with a single to right field to score Macon Winslow, 3-0.

Sophomore southpaw Kyle Johnson earned the win against the Royals, working two innings of no-hit baseball, improving to 2-3 on the season. The Blue Devils continued to add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Tyler Albright singled up the middle to score Gracia, 4-0.

The Royals cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth inning, before Duke scratched across a run thanks to situational hitting by Jake Hyde, 5-2. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Duke batted around for the 15th time this season, using three home runs and a wild pitch to score seven runs and secure a victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, as AJ Gracia hit a solo home run to center field, 1-0.
In the bottom of the second inning, Ben Rounds hit a solo home run to right field. Jake Berger singled to right field to score Macon Winslow from second, 3-0.
The Blue Devils added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Tyler Albright singled up the middle to score Gracia, 4-0.
Queens cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth inning, 4-2.
Duke responded in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Jake Hyde hit a sacrifice fly to center field, 5-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Rounds hit a solo home run to left center field. Berger hit a three-run home run to right field. Hyde hit a two-run home run to right field. Albright scored on a wild pitch, 12-2.

NOTES

Sophomore AJ Gracia continued his success at the plate over the second half of the season, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Gracia finished the contest on Tuesday with a 2-for-4 line, including opening the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with his eighth home run. The multi-hit effort was Gracia's 14th of the season.
Senior Wallace Clark collected his 15th hit-by-pitch on Tuesday, bringing his Duke tally to 39 in two seasons. That mark moves Clark into a tie for third all-time with Will Piwnica-Worms (2009-12).
The Blue Devils posted their fourth consecutive run-rule victory on Tuesday, scoring 12 runs in the contest. Duke is now 53-1 since 2023, scoring 10-plus runs in a game and 17-0 in 2025.
With the win against Queens, Duke has now secured its 28th win inside the friendly confines of Jack Coombs Field, one shy of tying the program record set in 1994.
Graduate Jake Hyde extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active on the team and longest of the season, on Tuesday. Hyde posted a 2-for-3 line with three RBI.
Graduate Ben Rounds posted his first multi-home run effort at Duke, tallying his sixth and seventh long balls of the season. Rounds collected a 4-for-5 line, scoring two runs and driving in a pair of RBI.

QUOTES

"I just told our team, it's a tough game to play, and we all know why. This time of year, you see all across the country, people canceling games. I believe strongly that if you schedule a game, you should play it, but I thought our guys handled it really well. I think a big part of us handling it well was how well Kyle Johnson pitched early. We took some good swings, then I thought in the middle innings, when we had a chance of stretching the lead, we didn't do a great job in our situational approach. It looked like we had some tight at-bats, and we played our way through that. As the game got deeper, our offense got better." – Head coach Chris Pollard on his overall thoughts on Tuesday's victory.
"I thought those guys threw really well tonight. The box score doesn't look great for Mark Hindy, but the stuff looked really good. He gave up a soft contact single, and I thought it was good. Reid Easterly is a lot like Charlie Beilenson. He is better when he throws a lot. The bigger the gaps between outings, the rustier he is. You could see how much sharper he was tonight, relative to his Sunday outing. I thought Max Stammel was really good again, and Kyle was great at the beginning." – On getting extra guys some work on the mound heading into a big ACC series this weekend.