Duke blows out Georgia Tech

There wasn’t too much missing out on the big hit with runners on base for Duke in the second game of its series against Georgia Tech, unlike the series opener.

The Blue Devils pounded the Yellow Jackets for a 14-4 win on Friday night, ending the game at Jack Coombs Field early because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Duke (36-17, 17-12 ACC) gave up a run in the first inning and led by four when the second inning started. AJ Gracia, who made the last out of Thursday night’s 7-6 loss with a runner at third base, hit a solo home run in the first. Jake Hyde singled in a run later in the frame, and Sam Harris launched a three-run homer to make it a five-run first inning.

The Blue Devils scored four more runs in the third, two of them on a double by Wallace Clark. They added another run in the fourth to hit double-digit runs; Duke is 55-1 since the start of the 2023 season when scoring at least 10 runs, and 19-0 this season.

The Yellow Jackets cut into the lead with the three-run fifth; Duke’s answer came in the form of an RBI double by Ben Miller in the bottom half of the inning, and then a three-run double by Harris.

Harris was 2-for-2 with six RBI; he walked in the two plate appearances that he didn’t have a three-run hit. Clark, Miller and Hyde each went 2-for-5 and Macon Winslow was 2-for-2.

Kyle Johnson (3-3) started for Duke and gave up one run in his two innings. Ryan Calvert gave up two runs across 2 1/3 innings; Gavin Brown gave up one run in 1 2/3 innings.

Reid Easterly, who was charged with the loss for Thursday night’s game, pitched a scoreless seventh inning to close things out.