Duke Completes Sweep of Pitt

Photo Courtesy of Duke Athletics

The Duke Blue Devils came back from an early 6-0 deficit to run rule the Pitt Panthers on Saturday afternoon in eight innings, 19-9. Since being swept a month ago at Stanford, the reigning ACC Tournament Champions have gone 16-5 and are 28-14 overall with a 12-9 record in the conference. Pitt second baseman Caden Dulin enjoyed his first multi-home run game of the season as Pitt entered the bottom of the 5th inning with a comfortable 7-2 lead.  

Blue Devils Show Fight in Comeback

The Blue Devils scored 14 runs over the 5th and 6th innings to take a commanding lead before adding three more runs in the 7th and 8th innings to complete the run-rule victory. Wallace Clark sparked the rally by leading off the 5th with his 14th HBP of the year. A few batters later, Ben Miller added his second RBI single of the game to cut the lead to 7-3.

“We talked about just cutting it in half,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said of the early 6-0 deficit. “We liked our at bats, and we just tried to chip away at it. We felt like there were some guys in their bullpen that we matched up pretty well with. We took some really good swings and were able to get to their ‘pen.”

With the bases loaded, Macon Winslow lined a ball into right center field for a two-run base knock to bring Duke within two runs. Sam Harris, who had been replaced in the starting lineup by Noah Murray, was called upon to pinch hit. In what was likely the pivotal moment of the game, the sophomore slugger delivered a 104 MPH backside blast over the left center field wall to give Duke an 8-7 lead.

Pollard explained that he’d spoken to Harris the day prior about starting Murray in Sam’s place on Friday and Saturday, stressing that the Iowa native would still be needed in key situations this weekend. Pollard and his staff identified specific Pitt relievers that Harris would match up well with and told Harris to be ready to face those arms should they take the mound. 

“When [Aidan] Coleman was in their ‘pen loosening up, I went down to Sam and said, ‘that's your guy,’” Pollard said. “That's a good job by him of going in there and being ready. And that swing really swung the ball game.”

Since getting more regular playing time over the last seven games, Harris is batting 9-for-27 (.333) with five home runs and 13 runs batted in. The left-handed power hitter was selected by many to enjoy a breakout season despite just seven at-bats in his first year at Duke. After starting the year hitting .220 with just one home run, it finally looks like Harris is getting comfortable and meeting expectations.

After Duke took the lead with a six-run 5th inning, Pitt briefly retook the lead in the top of the 6th thanks to a two-run single by Luke Cantwell. The Panthers would get just one more hit over the final two innings as Duke broke the game open with an eight-run 6th inning, highlighted by home runs from Ben Rounds and AJ Gracia. The game ended on a ‘walk-off’ RBI ground rule double by Tyler Albright to complete the 10-run mercy rule victory.  

Gracia credited the team chemistry as the key to Duke’s desire to fight and comeback in any situation, even being down five runs over halfway through the game.

“You look up in the 3rd and it was 6-0. It’s definitely easy to lay down there, but it's just a gritty group overall,” the sophomore center fielder said. “What helps is just how close we are as a team. That's something that not a lot of teams really have and it's something that really helped us down the stretch of the year.”

AJ Gracia Resurgence

Over the first 30 games of the season, AJ Gracia was struggling offensively, hitting .188 with just four extra base hits. His ability to work counts and draw walks kept him in the lineup, but as Duke entered a crucial series at North Carolina on April 3rd, the star sophomore had been relegated to hitting in the nine hole.

Since the second game of that series, the tables have turned for Gracia as he’s now 15-for-39 (.385) over his last 11 games with five doubles and a pair of home runs. On Saturday, he enjoyed his first multi-extra base hit effort as he checked in with a double and a monster home run to right field. He’s continued to get on-base via the walk and on Saturday he saw an incredible 17 pitches with two strikes heading into his last at-bat of the day. 

“He's an impressive hitter,” Pollard said. “The way he does not expand the zone, even when he's behind in a count, is always something that I've been so impressed with.”

Duke seems to be hitting their stride offensively down the stretch after several key players– including AJ Gracia– had slow starts to the season. The Blue Devils appear to be hitting on all cylinders approaching May and AJ Gracia’s resurgence will be an X-factor down the stretch as Duke looks to break down the door enroute to an Omaha run.

The Monroe, New Jersey native was adamant that he didn’t make any major changes to his approach or mechanics, but instead focused on his strengths and being more consistent. Despite the struggles over the first part of the year, Gracia maintained confidence and a level attitude, knowing that if he stuck to what he did well, things would eventually start to go his way. 

“I got away from [my process] a little bit early in the year, maybe just from pressing, but going back to what I do well and just being consistent is what's helped me turn it around here over the past few weeks.”

Reid Easterly Quiets Pitt Bats

Yale transfer Reid Easterly has been Duke’s most effective relief arm this season. On Friday against Pitt, his 20+ innings scoring streak was snapped when Panther pinch hitter Gavin Miller singled to tie the game in the 8th inning. Easterly went two innings in that game and threw 34 pitches, but came back on Saturday to face Pitt again as Duke looked to earn a comeback victory. 

The graduate right-hander entered in the 6th, hoping to maintain Duke’s 8-7 lead as Pitt threatened with two runners on and nobody out. Easterly walked Nessler on four pitches to load the bases before striking out the ever dangerous Ryan Zuckerman. He relinquished the lead on a two run single by Cantwell before bouncing back and getting Caden Dulin to ground into a double play to end the inning.

“I thought last night the stuff was too live,” Pollard said of Easterly. “We talked today when I bumped into him in the locker room, I said, ‘be ready to go today and you'll probably be better today because you're back in that rhythm of pitching.’”

After the Blue Devils broke the game open, pitching coach Brady Kirkpatrick decided to stick with Easterly for the rest of the game because the coaching staff wanted the relief ace to continue to work into a rhythm. 

“He talked about the arm being a little bit late yesterday,” Pollard explained. “BK made the decision to have him go back out there for that third inning because it felt like he was kind of working through it. And I thought that was his best inning.”

 Easterly allowed just two more baserunners– a walk and a single– and finished the game with no earned runs on his line and five strikeouts over three innings. He was also credited with the win and is 6-1 on the year with a sparkling 2.30 ERA over 47 innings. Alongside Gabe Nard and a recently dominant James Tallon, the Duke relief core looks poised for a dominant final stretch.

While Duke does have challenging ACC series against Virginia Tech, Clemson, and Georgia Tech to finish the year, the Blue Devils do get to play 10 of their remaining 14 games at home. They’re nearly a lock for the NCAA Tournament and will be spending the remainder of their season jockeying for seeding in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. As Duke approaches this final stretch, pieces are starting to fall into place and could prove to be the difference in June.