Baseball: Duke claims rubber match of series with 7-3 win

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 20 Duke won the rubber match of a three-game series, 7-3 over No. 13 Virginia on Sunday at Disharoon Park. The Blue Devils scored the game’s first six runs and held on for the series-clinching victory.

Three Cavaliers put forth multi-hit efforts – Kyle Teel (2 for 4), Ethan Anderson (2 for 4) and Henry Godbout (2 for 4). Junior Jake Gelof hit his 18th homer of the year, a two-run shot in the sixth inning.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duke (31-13, 14-9 ACC) drew three consecutive walks with one out in the first inning and all three came around to score on RBI from Giovanni DiGiacomo, Damon Lux and Luke Storm.
• Alex Stone made it 4-0 Blue Devils with his third home run of the series, a solo shot to lead off the third inning. Duke extended its lead to 6-0 in the fourth with a with a pair of two-out RBI singles from Stone and MJ Metz. Stone finished the series 7-for-13 with three home runs and four RBI.
• Teel put the Cavaliers (35-11, 13-11) on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single to right center that allowed Ethan O’Donnell to score.
• The Duke lead was cut in half with a two-run homer by Gelof in the bottom of the sixth. The long ball was his 18th of the season and RBI Nos. 69 and 70.
• The Blue Devils plated an unearned run in the seventh when Giovanni DiGiacomo came around to score on an RBI ground out by Tyler Albright to give Duke a 7-3 advantage.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Gelof, who set the program single-season record for RBI last season with 81, becomes the first Cavalier with two 70-RBI seasons. Prior to this year the only player in program history to have a pair of 60 RBI seasons was Phil Gosselin in 2009 (64) and 2010 (61).
• Gelof’s 18th home run tied him with Jon Benick (2001) for the third-most by a Cavalier in a season.
• Reliever Evan Blanco did not allow a hit and wasn’t charged with an earned run in 2.2 innings of work, the longest outing of his career. The lefthander has not allowed an earned run his last seven innings pitched, a span of five appearances.
• Jay Woolfolk matched a career-high by pitching the final three innings. The righthander did not allow and struck out three batters.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers wrap up their home-and-home midweek series against VCU on Tuesday. The homestand continues Wednesday when James Madison comes to Disharoon Park for the first time since 2019. First pitch for both games is slated for 6 p.m.