Duke Tops West Virginia, 2-1

Tuesday, March 15

Durham, N.C.

4:00 P.M.

Duke University

10-7

West Virginia

9-6

West Virginia

Duke

Duke Tops West Virginia, 2-1

3/15/2022 7:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score BOX SCORE SEASON STATS COACH POLLARD POSTGAME PHOTO GALLERY

DURHAM – Timely hitting and strong pitching lifted Duke past West Virginia on Tuesday afternoon, 2-1, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham.

Duke improved to 10-7 on the season while West Virginia dipped to 9-6. The Blue Devils recorded three of their four hits in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead and utilized effective pitching to close the game.

Sophomore Luke Storm led Duke offensively, going 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Storm extended his current on-base streak to 14 games.

Senior right-hander Cooper Stinson started on the mound for the Blue Devils. Stinson earned the win on the mound, allowing just one run on two hits and no walks while striking out four in five innings of work. The Peachtree Corners, Ga., native improved to 2-0 on the season. The Mountaineers' Chris Sleeper was tagged with the loss, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk in 3.2 innings of work.

"He did exactly what we wanted," head coach Chris Pollard said of Stinson. "He went two times through the order in five innings. That is our formula in the midweek. Coop did a great job, then the guys behind him came in and pitched well. I love the way we stayed in the moment and got off the field in a couple of big spots."

After three scoreless frames, West Virginia opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to right field. Duke would immediately counter, as consecutive singles put runners on first and second with one out. Sophomore Luke Storm doubled off the wall to plate one, before graduate student Chris Crabtree recorded a sacrifice fly to center to give Duke the lead, 2-1.

West Virginia threatened again in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. Southpaw Josh Allen struck out a pair and forced a flyout to center field to get out of the jam.

Senior Jimmy Loper closed for the Blue Devils, earning his third save of the season. Loper threw 22 pitches, 18 of which were strikes, allowing one hit and striking out three batters in two innings of work.

The Blue Devils shift their gaze to the weekend, as Duke hosts Tobacco Road rival North Carolina for a three-game series at the DBAP. First pitch times are set for 4 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $12 and fans are encouraged to purchase online prior to the game at GoDuke.com/tickets.

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