Murray State showed no mercy for Duke with its season on the line in Sunday’s Game 2 of the Durham Super Regional.
The Racers raced out to a 10-3 lead after the 4th inning and then fought off a Blue Devils rally with 9 more runs in the 7th in a 19-9 victory that forced the Super Regional to a deciding Game 3 on Monday. Duke will be the home team in Monday’s winner-take-all battle to decide who goes to the College World Series and who goes home.
One thing is for sure — Murray State didn’t want to go home on Sunday. After Duke took Game 1 of the Super Regional on Saturday, 7-4, the Blue Devils could smell a trip to Omaha. But Murray State quickly erased that on Sunday by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st and 2 more in the 2nd after Duke had jumped ahead with 2 runs in the top of the 1st.
AJ Gracia and Ben Miller belted solo homers for Duke in that 1st inning, and all seemed well for the Blue Devils with the Game 1 victory and an early lead in Game 2. Gracia made a stellar return to the lineup with that homer after serving a 1-game suspension on Saturday as a result of being ejected from Duke’s regional championship victory over Oklahoma State.
Duke didn’t go away either after falling behind 10-3. The Blue Devils scored 5 runs in the top of the 6th to suddenly pull within 10-8. With 3 more at-bats, anything seemed possible, especially in a crazy game like Sunday’s. But then disaster struck in that bottom of the 7th, when Murray State put up a 9-spot to put the game away. The 1 run Duke managed in the 8th didn’t matter much. All it did was make for the final score, which was ugly for the Blue Devils.
Pitching was an issue for Duke on Sunday but so was defense, as the Blue Devils committed 3 errors, which didn’t help matters. Duke used 8 pitchers on Sunday, with Kyle Johnson getting shelled in only his 2nd start since February. He allowed 6 earned runs on 6 hits, with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts, throwing 69 pitches in 3-plus innings of work.
After Sunday’s blowout, the slate will be wiped clean, and it will all come down to Monday to see who gets that dream trip to Omaha.
Murray State clobbers Duke in Game 2 of Durham Super Regional, forcing Game 3 Saturday Down South.
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