Griffin Conine’s walkoff hit lifts Duke to series win over No. 10 Cal
With runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth, freshman Griffin Conine laced a line drive to right field to lift Duke to its second consecutive walkoff victory over No. 10 Cal. The Blue Devils toppled the Bears, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park to secure a 2-1 series victory, their first series win over a top-10 team since 2009.
Conine’s first career hit plated fellow freshman Zack Kone, who beat out an infield single to begin the ninth-inning rally. Sophomore Evan Dougherty drew a walk to move Kone into scoring position before Conine turned on a 1-0 pitch to end the game.
Pitching the eighth and ninth innings, junior Karl Blum (1-0) retired all six Cal batters he faced to pick up the win.
Graduate student Brian McAfee made his Duke debut after pitching for Cornell University the past four seasons. McAfee tossed seven strong innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in the no decision.
Duke returns to action at 4 p.m. Tuesday, taking on Campbell at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Pregame coverage begins at 3:45 p.m. on GoDuke.com.
N.C. State: The No. 10 Wolfpack scored its second win of the weekend, dropping Kent State 7-5 Sunday at TicketReturn.com Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Softball
N.C. State: The Wolfpack concluded play in the Inaugural ACC/Big Ten Softball Challenge with a 6-5 win against Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon at Dail Stadium.
Elon: The Phoenix nearly overcame a three-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh but was unable to come out on top as they fell 7-6 to Jacksonville State in their finale at the Citrus Classic on Sunday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Women’s lacrosse
Duke: The fifth-ranked Blue Devils were held scoreless for a critical 25-minute stretch in an 11-5 loss to No. 19 Southern California on Saturday in the U.S. Lacrosse Orange County Winter Invitational. Playing on the West Coast for the first time since 2007, Duke dropped to 2-2 on the year.
Swimming and diving
East Carolina: The team completed a wire-to-wire victory Saturday at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championships to claim its second consecutive conference title.
Wrestling
Duke: Four Blue Devils scored bonus points Sunday to lead the team to a convincing 28-18 victory over No. 23 Purdue. The Blue Devils split their Big Ten road swing after losing a heartbreaker to Northwestern, 20-19, based on criteria Friday night.
From news releases
This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Griffin Conine’s walkoff hit lifts Duke to series win over No. 10 Cal."