Two-Out Hitting Sparks No. 17 Duke to Series Win Saturday

Saturday, March 1

Durham, N.C.

3 p.m.

Duke University

6-5

Northwestern

5-4

Northwestern

Duke

Two-Out Hitting Sparks No. 17 Duke to Series Win Saturday

3/1/2025 7:00:00 PM | Baseball

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

DURHAM – In the bottom of the seventh inning, Ben Miller laced a two-out, two-strike, single to left field to score a pair of Blue Devils, as No. 17 Duke (6-5) defeated Northwestern (5-4), 6-5 on Saturday.

Northwestern jumped on starter Ryan Higgins early, scoring two runs in the first inning before Gabe Nard entered in relief. Nard was able to stabilize the game, working 3.2 innings and allowing two hits.

In the bottom of the first inning, Miller responded with a solo home run to right center field, 2-1. The Wildcats once again answered in the top of the second inning, extending their lead to 4-1.

Graduate Jake Berger laced a double down the line in right to score Wallace Clark and Macon Winslow, cutting the Northwestern advantage to one, 4-3. Duke continued to grind out at-bats, finding a breakthrough in the bottom of the seventh inning. A leadoff single from Winslow and a Jimmy Evans hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second with no outs.

Clark nearly beat out a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third with one out. After a foul out to the catcher, Miller slashed a two-strike pitch to left field, scoring the two runs needed to give Duke the lead.

The Blue Devils added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth, as Andrew Yu singled to center field with two outs to extend the lead to 6-4. Junior Owen Proksch covered the last two innings of the ballgame, earning his first save of the season, allowing one run on three hits and punching out three batters.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Northwestern opened the scoring in the top of the first, 2-0.
In the bottom of the first inning, Ben Miller hit a solo home run to right center field, 2-1.
The Wildcats added to the lead in the top of the second inning, 4-1.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jake Berger laced a double down the line in right to score Wallace Clark and Macon Winslow, 4-3.
Duke regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Miller laced a single to left field to score a pair, 5-4.
The Blue Devils added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Andrew Yu singled to center field to score Jake Hyde from second, 6-4.
Northwestern threatened in the top of the ninth, cutting the Duke lead to one, 6-5.

NOTES

Junior Gabe Nard entered in relief of Ryan Higgins on Saturday, tossing 3.2 innings and allowing just two hits. Nard's appearance is now tied with Reid Easterly for the most on the team with six.
Graduate Reid Easterly picked up his first win in a Blue Devils uniform, working two innings of no-hit baseball. Easterly used just 12 pitches to cover six outs.
Junior Owen Proksch earned his first save of the 2025 season, working the final two innings and allowing one run on three hits. He punched out three batters, including a strikeout looking to end the ballgame.
Graduate Ben Miller was one of two Blue Devils to record multiple hits on Saturday, including lacing a single to left field in the bottom of the seventh to score a pair and give Duke the lead. Miller finished the day with a home run, his team-leading sixth of the season, and three RBI.
Graduate Jake Berger cut the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth inning, doubling down the line in right to score a pair. He finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Duke improves to 7-1 all-time against Northwestern after sweeping the Wildcats in 2024.

QUOTES

"Yeah, the conversation starts with Gabe Nard and the job he did to stabilize the game. They had a lot of momentum. They came out with a really good approach against Ryan Higgins. The thing that I have been impressed with is that we have played Northwestern two years in a row now; they are really good at selling out to one thing. They just pick something and go after it, and we are going to have success with it. They did that last year with Jonathan Santucci's fastball and did it with Higgins today. They are a well-coached team, and Gabe did a good job of shutting that down, putting up a bunch of zeros. Reid Easterly came in first and second and nobody out and managed the bunt play well and got the double play ball behind it. It was a good job by Reid picking up Gabe right there. Those runs don't deserve to score because he has pitched his tail off to that point. We had talked as a staff, and I told the team this morning that we really need to play in a close game. We need to play in some one-run grinders where we have to stay in the fight. Those are the kind of games you are going to play in the ACC." – Head coach Chris Pollard on the bullpen holding down the back half of the game.
"It was a really good job by Jimmy Evans of owning the box. He is just going to go up there and do whatever he is asked to do. I told him in the dugout, be ready to go up there and bunt, slash, be ready to do it all. He goes up there and takes the HBP and gets to first. Wallace did a great job with the drag bunt. Executed perfectly. It took a perfect throw to get him out, or we would have the bases loaded there. It is just a really good job by your six-year senior not to miss his pitch and come up with a two-out knock. We have to talk, too, about Andrew Yu coming off the bench. It turns out we needed that sixth run, and it was a huge at bat by Andy." – On the bench being ready to execute late in the game to secure the victory.