Leon Deals, Strand Hits Grand Slam; Duke Defeats No. 10 Florida State, 11-4

Sunday, March 29

Tallahassee, Fla.

1 p.m.

Duke University

Florida State

Leon Deals, Strand Hits Grand Slam; Duke Defeats No. 10 Florida State, 11-4

3/29/2026 4:29:00 PM | Baseball

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Behind 5.1 innings and nine strikeouts from Andy Leon, and Matthew Strand's second grand slam of the season, Duke won Sunday's series finale at Florida State, 11-4. The Blue Devils (18-12, 5-7 ACC) picked up their first ranked victory of the season, knocking off the 10th-ranked Seminoles (21-6, 7-2 ACC).

Strand continued his strong play in March, going yard for the seventh time and increasing his RBI total to 22 this month. On the mound, Leon earned his second win of the season with his best start of the year. The graduate twirled three-hit ball while matching his career high with nine strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Blue Devils threatened in the first inning, putting two on base, before the Seminoles' starter forced a fly out to center field to end the frame. Andy Leon struck out the first two batters he faced and worked around a two-out walk to post a clean start to his afternoon.
Duke got on the board in its next trip to the plate. Following a walk by Coltin Quagliano and a double from Michael DiMartini, Brooks Perez drove in both with a single to right field.
Leon posted four more strikeouts in his next two innings and received a cushion from his offense in the top of the fourth. The Blue Devils exploded for five runs, highlighted by Matthew Strand's grand slam. Tyler Albright started the scoring with an RBI single, plating Quagliano. Strand came to the plate later in the inning with the bases loaded, after an intentional walk of Kaden Smith, and took a 2-2 pitch to deep left field for a 7-0 Duke lead.
After two early outs in the top of the fifth, Duke loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter. RJ Hamilton then worked another walk, forcing in the Blue Devils' eighth run of the afternoon.
Leon struck out two in the bottom of the fifth, working another clean inning and got the first out of the sixth before giving up a single and RBI double to end his day on the mound. Marcello Mastroianni worked out of the inning with a full-count strikeout and an infield pop fly.
Duke once again loaded the bases, in the top of the seventh, and Hamilton logged another RBI with a sacrifice fly.
The Seminoles tacked on one run in each of the seventh and eighth innings, making it a 9-3 game heading to the final frame.
The Blue Devils scored their final two in the ninth for an 11-3 lead as Quagliano walked, moved to third on a DiMartini double and scored on a Perez sacrifice fly.
Hamilton continued his strong day at the dish, plating DiMartini on a double for Hamilton's third RBI of the afternoon.
Ben Dean finished off the contest in the bottom of the ninth. A run scored due to a wild pitch, but Dean struck out the final two batters he faced, securing the 11-4 victory for Duke.

UP NEXT

Duke returns to Jack Coombs Field, closing the month with a home midweek against Davidson.
The Blue Devils and Wildcats are scheduled for a 4 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday, March 31.

For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBASE".
#GoDuke