Northwestern
5-5
#17 Duke
7-5
No. 17 Blue Devils Use Big Inning to Down Wildcats
3/2/2025 3:33:00 PM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke put up seven runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 11-2 win over Northwestern on Sunday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field.
For the second day in a row, the Wildcats (5-5, 0-0 Big Ten) opened the scoring in the top of the first. With the bases loaded, INF Ryan Kucherak drew a walk, scoring OF Preston Knott to give the Wildcats an early lead.
Duke (7-5, 0-0 ACC) pounced on the 'Cats in the bottom half of the first, taking advantage of five Wildcat walks in the frame. With two men on, INF Ben Miller continued his hot weekend, slugging a home run to right-center to put Duke up 3-1. With the bases loaded later that same inning, UTL Jake Hyde came through with a grand slam to put the Blue Devils up 7-1.
Duke added to its lead in the bottom of the seventh, scoring four runs on four walks, two hits, an error, and a hit by pitch to stretch its lead to 11-1.
In the top of the eighth, INF Trent Liolios doubled and came around to score on an RBI single by Kucherak to make it 11-2 and cap off the scoring.
LHP Carter Danz started the game for the Wildcats and is credited with the loss. Danz allowed five earned runs on two hits, walking three.
RHP Blake MacMillan was solid in relief for the Wildcats. MacMillan allowed just one hit in 3.1 scoreless innings pitched, striking out four, walking one and hitting one batter.
Northwestern will wrap up its early season non-conference road swing with a four-game series at The Citadel. Friday's opener is set for 5 p.m. CT before a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. CT. Sunday's game is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Zatkowski, Henry (1-1)
L: Danz, Carter (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Liolios, Trent 1 ; Counsell, Jack 1
RBI: Kucherak, Ryan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Knott, Preston 1 ; Liolios, Trent 1
Batting:
2B: Yu, Andrew 1 ; Johnson, Kyle 1
HR: Miller, Ben 1 ; Hyde, Jake 1
RBI: Miller, Ben 4 ; Hyde, Jake 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Clark, Wallace 2 ; Berger, Jake 2 ; Miller, Ben 1 ; Rounds, Ben 1 ; Albright, Tyler 1 ; Yu, Andrew 1 ; Hyde, Jake 2 ; Johnson, Kyle 1
SB: Johnson, Kyle 1
HBP: Clark, Wallace 1 ; Miller, Ben 1 ; Gracia, AJ 1
