ACC opponents have not been kind to the Blue Devils, but they have fared much better in nonconference play.
After dropping both games in an abbreviated two-game series to Clemson last weekend, Duke gets a breather from conference play when it travels to Greenville, N.C., for a clash against East Carolina Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium. The Blue Devils have posted a 17-2 mark against nonconference opponents this season compared to a 5-15 record versus ACC foes.
With three teams ranked in the top 15, the ACC is one of the premier baseball conferences in the country, providing a tangible gap in competition between Duke’s conference and nonconference games. But head coach Chris Pollard also said he believes his team’s youth—the roster has 13 freshmen, many of whom have been forced to play key roles due to a litany of injuries—can explain some of its midweek success.
“It would go without saying that the quality that you see in the midweek is not going to match up against the top of the ACC,” Pollard said. “So that’s part of it, and the other part of it is you have young players—they’re more relaxed when they play in the midweek and they’re learning how to play in the ACC. So they play with a little more pressure on them in the weekend and because of that, we’ve pressed a little bit [in conference play].”
Part of the reason the Blue Devils (22-17) have relied so heavily on rookies is a cluster of injuries, especially to the pitching staff. Before the season started, Duke was dealt a pair of tough blows with the losses of projected weekend starter Trent Swart to Tommy John surgery in December and sophomore James Marvel to the same procedure last May. The injuries continued to pile up in the spring with the news that ace Michael Matuella and key reliever Nick Hendrix would both have their campaigns come to a premature end.
As a result, Pollard has had no choice but to throw his freshmen out on the mound, regardless of the opponent. The quartet of Luke Whitten, Mitch Stallings, Chris McGrath and Ryan Day has combined to toss 94 1/3 innings on the year with impressive results. Each member of the foursome boasts an ERA less than 3.70 and has logged more innings than hits allowed, giving Pollard a breadth of options to choose from in his bullpen.
With sophomore Bailey Clark slated to make a shortened start against the Pirates (25-16), the freshmen relievers will once again play a crucial role. East Carolina faces a quick turnaround for the Blue Devils after beating N.C. State on a walk-off single Tuesday night but enters Wednesday’s contest having won five of six. The Pirates hit .292 as a team and are led offensively by 6-foot-2 junior Luke Lowery, who paces the squad with a .361 batting average, .470 on-base percentage and .623 slugging percentage entering Tuesday's game against the Wolfpack.
Duke is starting to get healthy again, with redshirt junior Conner Stevens expected to return to the mound and pitch again this week. The Blue Devils will never have the full arsenal of bodies they hoped to at the start of the season, but are happy to welcome back anyone that can help out.
“We’re starting to get...as healthy as we’re going to be,” Pollard said. “We’re starting to get some guys back that we’ve been waiting to get back, and other guys we know, ‘Hey, they won’t be back until next fall’ and that’s part of it.”
Pollard singled out freshman Max Miller as a player who has stepped up and produced with injuries mounting. Miller started the season on the bench but has seen extensive action at both shortstop and third base, spots Pollard labeled as “the two toughest positions on the field to play at this level as a true freshman”. The Ponte Vedra, Fla., native has earned 23 starts this season and has posted a .348 on-base percentage to go along with strong defense at both slots on the left side of the infield.
Miller is just one of several freshmen that have been thrust into the thick of ACC action despite a lack of experience, but Duke is back in a lower-pressure environment with Wednesday’s nonconference tilt. Still, Pollard pointed to the rigors of conference play as a valuable learning experience for his team and an important part of his freshmen’s development.
“It’s like being stung by a bee a bunch. If you get stung by a bee once, you kind of shake it off,” Pollard said. “If you get stung by a bee twice, then all of a sudden, the more bee stings you get, you start to get nervous about being stung again. That’s kind of where our guys are in terms of their maturation. The only way to get through it is to fight your way through it, to compete your way through it.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.