Blue Devils Shutout Liberty On The Road

LYNCHBURG, VA. – Five Duke pitchers combined to allow just five hits in a shutout win as the Blue Devils topped Liberty 7-0 on Tuesday night at the Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, VA

After a scoreless game through five innings, junior RJ Schreck broke open the scoring in the sixth inning with a three-run home run.

Offensively, six different Blue Devils recorded a hit during the contest, highlighted by Schreck’s 2-for-4 outing with three RBIs.

Making his fourth start of the season, freshman southpaw Luke Fox threw three shutout innings while allowing just two hits. A native of Waukesha, Wis., Fox struck out three while on the mound.

Duke and Liberty (25-9) both threatened in the early innings as the Blue Devils loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning before the Flames did the same in the fourth. Both teams escaped the jams with strikeouts to end the innings.

The Blue Devils got on the board in the sixth as senior Joey Loperfido and junior Ethan Murray reached base with no outs to put runners on first and second. Schreck fouled off four pitches with two strikes before hitting a three-run blast over the left field wall in the 10-pitch at-bat.

Duke scored four in the eighth inning as selective Duke hitting at the plate earned four consecutive walks before a sacrifice fly by senior Michael Rothenberg, an error and a wild pitch scored the final three runs of the inning.

The Duke pitching staff combined to hold Liberty to five hits throughout the game, including just one hit after the fifth inning.

Seniors Josh Nifong and Matt Dockman made appearances in relief as part of Duke’s full-staff approach on the mound. Nifong, a native of High Point, N.C., gave up two hits and three walks in two scoreless innings. He struck out three in his time on the hill to earn his second win of the season. Dockman, a southpaw out of Hilliard, Ohio, put in two hitless innings of work while striking out four.

Freshman Nick Conte and sophomore Jimmy Loper closed for the Blue Devils, pitching the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Conte struck out two in his hitless inning while Loper allowed a hit before getting a double play to seal the game.

Duke (17-16, 7-13 ACC) is back in the state of Virginia for the weekend as the Blue Devils travel to Charlottesville for an ACC series at Virginia.