Bullpen Dominates, Duke Secures First ACC Series Victory over California

Sunday, March 9

Durham, N.C.

11:30 a.m.

Duke University

10-6, 2-1

California

7-8, 1-2

California

Duke

Bullpen Dominates, Duke Secures First ACC Series Victory over California

3/9/2025 4:04:00 PM | Baseball

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

DURHAM – Duke's bullpen shined in Sunday's series finale, covering the final six innings of work, as the Blue Devils (10-6, 2-1 ACC) secured their first ACC series victory of the season, defeating California (7-8, 1-2 ACC), 7-3, on Sunday afternoon.

Graduate Ryan Calvert earned the win in relief, working two innings on the mound and punching out three batters. The trio of Edward Hart, Mark Hindy, and Henry Zatkowski covered the final four innings, allowing two hits and striking out four batters. Zatkowski closed the ballgame in the ninth, striking out the side to clinch the series at Jack Coombs Field.

After threatening in the bottom of the first inning, Macon Winslow opened the scoring for the Blue Devils, hitting a two-run home run to left field, 2-0. The Golden Bears responded in the top of the third inning, cutting the deficit in half, before tying the ballgame in the top of the fourth inning. Calvert mitigated the damage in the top of the frame, striking out a pair of Cal hitters.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Ben Miller gave Duke the lead for good, hitting his team-leading ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to right center field, 4-2. Cal continued to chip away, scoring a run in the top of the sixth inning before Miller knocked in Wallace Clark to push the lead to 5-3. The Blue Devils added some late insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring a pair of runs to defeat Cal on Sunday.

Junior left-hander Andrew Healy started for the Blue Devils on Sunday, working three innings and allowing one earned run on three hits. He walked a pair and struck out three before handing the ball off the Duke bullpen.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, as Macon Winslow hit a two-run home run to left field, 2-0.
Cal responded in the top of the third inning, 2-1.
The Golden Bears tied the ballgame in the top of the fourth, 2-2.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Ben Miller hit a two-run home run to right center field, 4-2.
Cal added a run in the top of the sixth inning, 4-3.
Miller added to the Blue Devils' lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, slicing a single to right center field, scoring Wallace Clark from second, 5-3.
Duke added some insurance as Jake Berger reached on a fielder's choice to score Winslow. Tyler Albright drove in Berger to extend the lead to 7-3.

NOTES

The Blue Devils improved to 203-66 (.755) when scoring first since 2016.
Sophomore Macon Winslow opened the scoring for the Blue Devils, hitting a two-run home run down the line in left. Winslow finished the day 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and a walk. It was Winslow's third multi-hit contest and third multi-RBI day.
Graduate Ben Miller hit his team-leading ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to give Duke the lead in the fifth inning. He finished the afternoon 4-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Miller has now accumulated six multi-hit contests and leads the team with seven multi-RBI days.
Senior Wallace Clark extended his hitting streak to nine games on Sunday, collecting three hits against California. Clark is now tied with Miller and Tyler Albright for the team lead with six multi-hit days.
Graduate Ryan Calvert dominated out of the bullpen, earning his second victory of the season to move to 2-0. Calvert worked two innings, allowing one run to pass, and struck out three batters.
The trio of Edward Hart, Mark Hindy, and Henry Zatkowski covered the final four innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out four batters. Zatkowski closed the ballgame in the ninth, striking out the side to secure Duke's first ACC series victory of 2025.
Junior Andrew Healy started on Sunday, working three innings as he continues to build up this season. Healy allowed two runs, one earned to score and struck out three Golden Bears.
With the win on Sunday, Duke has won all three series against California, dating back to 2015.

QUOTES

"I am really proud of our team. I told them last night that I was proud of the way they responded. I am proud of our coaching staff, and I want to single out Brady Kirkpatrick. After Friday night, it is easy to scratch your head and wonder what is happening. It is easy to start questioning your pitch calling. Brady is one of the best pitching coaches in the country, and it showed over the last two games. They [Cal] are going to be a good offense in our league, and I thought we executed well. We showed off our toughness the last two days, especially today. We didn't have Owen Proksch in the backend, which would have been nice, so other guys had to step up, and they did." – Head coach Chris Pollard on the team responding over the last two days to secure the first ACC series of the season.
"Its no secret going into this game that you don't have Reid Easterly and Gabe Nard available due to their workload this weekend. Then you find out this morning that Proksch had food poisoning and was going to miss today. That puts a lot of strain on you, and the bullpen has to step up. Healy isn't built up yet. That was the most he has gone since last spring. It puts pressure on your bullpen. You have a guy like Ryan Calvert go out and execute. You have the job by Edward Hart to come in and pick him up. Then Mark Hindy covers two innings, and we knew going into today guys were going to have to step up and guys did." – On the job the bullpen did covering the final six innings of the game Sunday.