Captain Clark Lifts No. 11 Duke Over Cincinnati in Extras

Saturday, February 15

Durham, N.C.

6 p.m.

Duke University

Cincinnati

Captain Clark Lifts No. 11 Duke Over Cincinnati in Extras

2/16/2025 12:16:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)

DURHAM – Senior captain Wallace Clark lifted No. 11 Duke (1-1) to an extra-inning victory on Saturday, blasting the first pitch of his at bat to left field to walk off Cincinnati (1-1), 6-5. The 12-inning contest was the longest game since 2022, when Duke walked off Longwood, 6-5.

Senior right-hander Ryan Higgins gave the Blue Devils quality innings in his first start of 2025, working four innings and allowing one run on three hits. Juniors Owen Proksch and Aidan Weaver covered the final five innings, allowing one combined hit and striking out eight batters.

Weaver earned his first win of the season, finishing his day with 2.1 innings of work and allowing one hit.

Cincinnati opened the scoring on the first pitch of the game, hitting a solo home run to right field. The Blue Devils responded in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Clark collected his first of three RBI, singling through the right side to score Tyler Albright from third.

The Bearcats continued to battle back, scoring on an error in right field to regain the lead, 2-1. Duke pushed back in the bottom of the fifth, batting around for the first time this season, and extended their lead to 5-2.

Cincinnati once again pushed back in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs to tie the game at five aside. In the top of the 10th inning, Proksch found himself in a bit of trouble, loading the bases on a walk and hit by pitch, before Weaver stepped to the mound and escaped the jam.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Cincinnati took the lead on a solo home run in the top of the first inning, 1-0.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Wallace Clark singled through the right side to score Tyler Albright from third, 1-1.
The Bearcats regained the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring on an error in right field, 2-1.
Duke took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Jake Hyde punched a sacrifice fly to left field to score Ben Miller. Albright doubled down the line in right to score AJ Gracia from second. Clark singled through the left side to score Macon Winslow from third. Ben Rounds was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Albright from third, 5-2.
Cincinnati tied the ballgame in the top of the sixth inning, 5-5.
In the bottom of the 12th inning, Clark hit a solo home run to left field, 6-5.

NOTES

Sophomore Sam Harris made his first collegiate start on Saturday evening, playing right field for the Blue Devils.
Duke scored four runs in the fifth inning, batting around for the first time this season.
The Blue Devils improved to 217-47 (.822) since 2016 when scoring three-plus runs in a frame.
Senior Ryan Higgins made his first start of the 2025 season, working four innings of three-hit baseball and allowing one run. He struck out four batters and tossed 73 pitches.
Saturday was Duke's first extra-inning game this season and the first since April of 2024, when Duke played back-to-back 11-inning contests.
Junior left-hander Owen Proksch tossed a new career-high six strikeouts in his outing Saturday. He finished with 2.2 innings pitched and no hits allowed.
Senior captain Wallace Clark finished the 4-for-5, driving in three RBI and walking once. Clark's fourth and final hit of the evening was a walk-off home run to left field.
In the win, the Blue Devils' pitching staff tallied 13 strikeouts against the Bearcats.
Junior Aidan Weaver collected his first win of the season, working 2.1 innings in relief, allowing one hit and striking out a pair. Weaver is now 5-4 in his career at Duke.

QUOTES

"I am really proud of the way we responded and battled tonight. We made some mistakes throughout the game, me included, but we continued to respond. I think we found out toughness tonight. The play that Jake Berger made to get us off the field. The compete factor from Owen Proksch and Aidan Weaver was high, and I thought we were really tough." – Head coach Chris Pollard on the team's toughness tonight.