Weekend recap: Duke wins 2 of 3 against Louisville
Duke captured another ACC series win over the weekend, winning two of three games against Louisville.
The Blue Devils (21-13, 7-8 ACC) had a great weekend on the mound. Their pitching staff shut down the Cardinals’ high-powered offense for the majority of the weekend.
Here is a quick recap of each game this weekend:
Duke 6, Louisville 3
On Thursday, Peter Lemke made his first start of the season, throwing 5 2/3 innings and shutting down the Cardinals lineup. He allowed one run on four hits and tallied five strikeouts.
The Blue Devils’ bats did enough to power the team ahead during game one.
Coltin Quagliano stayed sharp and hit a two-out RBI single on an 0-2 count to drive in a couple of runs early in the game.
RJ Hamilton scored on a fielder’s choice in the third to put the team up three.
Jake Lambdin cranked a 0-1 pitch to dead center field for a 412 foot home run in response to the Cardinals getting on the board just earlier in the fifth inning.
Hamilton drove in Michael DiMartini on an RBI single to extend the Blue Devils lead at a distance.
Jack Hedrick was impressive on the mound as he gave the Blue Devils 3 1/3 innings while grabbing the save. He allowed just two runs and struck out five Cardinals in the process.
Duke 10, Louisville 8
On Friday, in what was an offensive masterclass of a game, Kaden Smith played hero for the Blue Devils to boost them in front, courtesy of a three run bomb.
Aidan Weaver got the start for the Blue Devils on the mound giving the team 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven, and giving up four runs. His performance was enough to keep the Blue Devils around.
Smith’s second home run of the game ultimately won it for the Blue Devils.
In the bottom of the eighth, Smith smoked a go-ahead three-run home run to give the Blue Devils the lead, in what was the game’s fourth lead change between the sixth and eighth inning.
Ben Dean held it down on the mound as he came in and threw two no-hit innings, striking out three Cardinals, and allowing just one runner on base.
Louisville 9, Duke 4
On Saturday, the Blue Devils dropped the final game of the weekend series as the Cardinals’ bats came alive.
Four different Blue Devils tallied an RBI. DiMartini had one of his best of games of the season at the plate going 3-for-4.
Andy Leon and Aiden O’Connell didn’t have their best stuff on the mound early into the game but we saw some good things from the back end of the bullpen from Roman Digiacomo and Caleb Anderson who allowed just one run in the last four innings.
