DURHAM, N.C. – The baseball team played even with Duke for eight innings on Sunday, but the Blue Devils' five-run first inning proved too much to overcome in a 7-2 affair at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
 
By completing the three-game sweep, Duke (10-2) extended its winning streak to eight games after yielding just two hits in the Sunday finale. The first four Blue Devils batters reached base, then Chris Proctor smacked a three-run homer to give the home side an early 5-0 lead.
 
Announced as the starter at the 11th hour, sophomore Seth Urbon settled in after the rocky first inning to work into the game's sixth inning. One-out singles in the fourth and sixth led to Duke's other runs.
 
Despite having just two hits on the day, Cornell had 12 reach base on the day. Sophomore Matt Collins drew a two-out walk in the third, then senior Ryan Krainz swatted a single up the middle. Freshman Ramon Garza's walk loaded the bases, the senior Dale Wickham drove in the Big Red's first run when he was hit by a pitch.
 
Freshman Kalani Matton scored the second run for Cornell (0-6) in the ninth after being hit by a pitch in a pinch-hitting role. Krainz worked a walk, then Garza reached on an error to allow Matton to score.
 
Sophomore Colby Wyatt worked 2.1 innings of scoreless relief for the Big Red, which takes next weekend off before concluding its season-opening stretch of nine straight on the road with three games March 17-18 at Fordham.