Columbia
Duke
Baseball Edged at Duke, 5-2
3/17/2015 9:09:00 PM | Baseball
BOX SCORE (.html) | BOX SCORE (.pdf)
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke's bullpen retired 13 of the final 15 batters to stifle the Columbia baseball team, 5-2, on Tuesday night.
The Lions (3-8) and Blue Devils (15-5) traded runs in the each of their turns in the first two innings before both pitching staffs settled in. Duke's hurlers compiled 12 strikeouts on the night.
Columbia went to work in the top of the first after a perfectly laid down bunt by Shane Adams and single by Jordan Serena put runners on the corners. Joey Falcone followed with an RBI groundout to give the Lions a short-lived 1-0 lead.
Andy Perez evened things up on the very first pitch of the bottom of the frame with a solo homer, his first of the season. Two more hits and a fielder's choice brought in the go-ahead run to put the Blue Devils ahead, 2-1.
In the top of the second, John Kinne recorded a leadoff double down the leftfield line and came around on a bloop single by Lane Robinette, pulling the Lions even.
Duke answered again in its next series of at-bats, capitalizing on a misplayed fly ball to start the inning. A passed ball moved the runner to third and Max Miller dropped in a single in front of Gus Craig in right, restoring the Blue Devils' one-run lead.
In the sixth, Duke's Peter Zyla singled off of starting pitcher Mike Weisman to reach with one out. A ground out moved Zyla into scoring position and scored on a single up the middle from Perez to extend the margin to 4-2.
Jack Labosky doubled to the gap in right-center to cap the scoring in the bottom of the eighth.
Weisman went 5.2 innings (0-1), allowing three earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts. Serena and Kinne both finished 2-for-4 from the dish.
The Lions wrap up the short series with Duke on Wednesday, March 18. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. on the Ivy League Digital Network.
