No. 17 Duke Falls to Liberty on Wednesday

Wednesday, February 26

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

4-5

Liberty

6-2

Liberty

Duke

No. 17 Duke Falls to Liberty on Wednesday

2/26/2025 7:57:00 PM | Baseball

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

DURHAM – No. 17 Duke (4-5) fell to Liberty, 12-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field.

Freshman Henry Zatkowski made his first collegiate start on Wednesday, falling to 0-1 on the season. He worked two innings, punching out a career-high four batters.

The Flames opened the scoring in the top of the first inning before adding a second run to their tally in the second, 2-0. In the bottom of the second, Macon Winslow punched a sacrifice fly to right field to score AJ Gracia from third, cutting the deficit in half, 2-1.

Liberty proceeded to score four runs in the third inning, two in the fifth, and three in the sixth to extend their lead and ultimately defeat the Blue Devils on Wednesday. Junior right-hander Roman DiGiacomo closed out the game for the Blue Devils, working 1.2 innings of no-hit baseball and punching out a career-high three batters.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Liberty took the lead in the top of the first inning, 1-0.
The Flames added to the lead in the top of the second inning, 2-0.
In the bottom of the second inning, Macon Winslow punched a sacrifice fly to right field to score AJ Gracia from third, 2-1.
Liberty answered in the top of the third inning, 6-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Ben Miller hit a solo home run to left field, 6-2.
Liberty added a pair in the top of the fifth inning, 8-2.
The Flames added three in the top of the sixth inning, 11-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Jake Hyde hit a two-run home run to right field, 11-4.
Liberty added on in the top of the eighth, 12-4.

NOTES

Freshman Henry Zatkowski made his first collegiate start on Wednesday afternoon, working two innings, while allowing five runs on five hits. Zatkowski added a career-high four punchouts against the Flames.
Graduate Ben Miller hit his team-leading fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to left field in the third inning. It was Miller's lone hit of the night.
Graduate Jake Hyde tallied his first home run as a Blue Devil, hitting a two-run shot to right field in the seventh inning. Hyde finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Junior Roman DiGiacomo tallied a career-high three strikeouts against Liberty, limiting the Flames to no hits in his 1.2 innings of work.

QUOTES

"We allowed a defensive miscue to allow the big innings tonight. We did it in the third, the fifth and sixth innings. In the third and in the sixth inning, if you make those plays, you get off the field with nobody scoring. We have got to be better at routine plays that we have practiced. We repped that play throughout the preseason and again after the Cincinnati weekend while also doing PFP plays every Thursday, and we probably do them more than anyone in the country. That is five runs there. It is a different ballgame if you keep those runs off the board. We have to clean up those mistakes, and we can't let one mistake turn into a three or four-run inning." – Head coach Chris Pollard on the miscues tonight.

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