Blue Devils Open Season with Split Against Maine

Friday, February 13

Durham, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

0-0

Maine

0-0

Maine

Duke

Blue Devils Open Season with Split Against Maine

2/13/2026 11:48:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (PDF)Game 2 Box Score (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke Baseball opened the 2026 season with a split in its doubleheader against Maine, winning the first game 8-3, before falling, 4-3, in the nightcap. In game one, RJ Hamilton tallied a pair of triples, Jake Lambdin hit a home run and Aidan Weaver tallied the win on the mound to highlight Duke's winning effort, earning head coach Corey Muscara his first career victory as a head coach. In the second game of the day, both Cider Canon and Adin Zorn went yard, but a late rally by the visitors pushed the Black Bears to a win.

HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME ONE

Maine struck first, leading off with a double in the first at-bat of the contest. A stolen base set up an RBI single, giving the Black Bears a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
After Aidan Weaver settled in during the second inning, with two fly outs and a strikeout, Duke's offense got to work in the bottom half, taking advantage of three errors in the frame to push across two runs. Jake Lambdin punctuated the inning with a double to left, scoring Coltin Quagliano.
Maine leveled the score at 2-2 in the top of the third, with another RBI single. The Blue Devils responded in the bottom half, with an RBI single of their own, off the bat of Adin Zorn.
Lambdin hit the season's first homer in the bottom of the fourth, going 379 feet to left field, extending Duke's lead to 4-2.
An RBI double by Bobby Marsh in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Tyler Albright from first, helped grow the Blue Devils' edge.
Duke posted three runs in the following inning, started with a triple by RJ Hamilton, scoring two, followed by Cider Canon bringing Hamilton home from third.
Maine scratched across one final run, with a home run in the eighth inning, before Caleb Anderson finished off the 8-3 victory in the top of the ninth.

HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME TWO

Matt Nochowitz earned the start in the second game of the evening, toeing the rubber for the first time as a Blue Devil.
The Black Bears once again struck first, with a run in the top of the first. Duke immediately responded, with Cider Canon hitting his first Duke home run on the second pitch of the home half. Adin Zorn also went yard in the first inning, pulling a 1-1 pitch over the left-field wall to put Duke in front, 2-1.
Back-to-back homers in the top of the fourth pushed Maine back in front, 3-2. Duke tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom half, with Matthew Strand running home on a wild pitch.
In a planned seven-inning contest, neither team could find a go-ahead run and the game headed to the top of the eighth and extra innings. Peter Lemke forced a 5-4-3 double play to end the top of the eighth but Duke was unable to push across a run in the bottom of the frame.
The Black Bears went ahead, 4-3, on a balk in the top of the ninth. Duke threatened in the bottom of the ninth, with Cider Canon reaching third base with two outs, but the Blue Devils were unable to bring Canon home.

UP NEXT

Duke (1-1) and Maine (1-1) play another doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 14. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m., with game two scheduled for no earlier than 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest.
Fans can watch live on ACC Network Extra.

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