Saint Joseph's battled Duke for eight innings before the Blue Devils capitalized on a pair of miscues to push across the winning run in a 2-1 contest on Saturday.
Cole Stetzar came in as relief for the Hawks in the eighth before surrendering a single and allowing the runner to advance on an errant pickoff attempt. That runner scampered to third later in the frame on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly, breaking the 1-1 tie.
Brandon Drapeau collected two hits for the Hawks (0-2) in the loss, while Ryan Cesarini collected the Hawks' lone RBI with a double in the seventh.
Making his collegiate debut, Will McCausland surrendered one run on five hits over four innings. He whiffed four and walked a pair. Peter Gallo collected six strikeouts in relief over three innings.
The Hawks and Blue Devils close out their three-game set on Sunday.
In another D-I contest
Washington St. 22, Villanova 7
The Wildcats' pitching staff surrendered 12 walks, nine hit batters, and 16 hits in the loss. Jack O'Reilly and Steve Grober collected two hits each on the afternoon for 'Nova (0-3).
