Traveling on the road to play a top-15 team that has been nothing short of dominant at home would have been difficult even under the best of circumstances.
Unfortunately for Duke, these are far from the best of circumstances.
The Blue Devils will make the trip down to Coral Gables, Fla., for a three-game series against No. 12 Miami this weekend at Mark Light Field. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday, with the series finale slated for a 1 p.m. start Sunday afternoon.
Duke received some grim news Wednesday, when it learned that ace Michael Matuella’s elbow trouble and reliever Nick Hendrix’s head injury would cause both hurlers to miss the rest of the season. Matuella had overcome lingering arm issues early in the season to regain the form that made him MLB.com's No. 2 overall prospect and Hendrix had been a key arm out of the bullpen for head coach Chris Pollard, but the Blue Devils will have no choice but to march on without them.
“It’s obviously a big blow—two of the guys that have been top arms on our team for the last three years,” Pollard said. “Obviously, Michael has received a ton of preseason accolades and acclaim and it’s been well-deserved, and then you lose a guy like that. I don’t want to understate the loss of Nick Hendrix because he’s been one of the top relievers in the ACC in the last three years if you look at the numbers.”
The losses of Matuella and Hendrix leave Duke (19-10, 4-8 in the ACC) short-handed on the mound as it tries to topple the Hurricanes, who have not lost a series at home this season en route to a 14-2 record on their home turf. Senior Andrew Istler is the only member of the Blue Devils’ usual trio of weekend starters to enter the weekend with a clean bill of health, as sophomore Bailey Clark’s lingering elbow inflammation casts doubt on his status to take the ball against Miami.
In the short term, Duke will have to piece together at least one game against the Hurricanes (21-9, 8-4) with a full bullpen effort, similar to its strategy for midweek games. Relievers Kenny Koplove and Conner Stevens are likely to see extended action, as are freshmen southpaws Luke Whitten and Chris McGrath. Relief aces Sarkis Ohanian and Mitch Stallings have also been stellar out of the bullpen and have the ability to go through a lineup more than once, giving Pollard plenty of options to choose from as he attempts to piece together a rotation for the weekend.
In the next two weeks or so, Pollard’s club will look to stretch out one of its relievers and turn him into a six-inning starter to fill Matuella's slot in the weekend rotation. Most of the hurlers in the pen have starting experience of some sort—whether it be with the Blue Devils or in high school—but for now it will be a collective effort on the mound.
“We’ve got some holes to fill and what it means is some guys are going to have to step up and embrace the opportunity and sort of seize the moment to help this club get over the hump,” Pollard said.
Whoever Duke puts on the bump during the weekend will not have an easy time against a dangerous and balanced Miami offense that ranks among the ACC’s top three in all major offensive categories. The Hurricanes get on base at a .405 clip—a mark good for 14th in the country—and are capable of beating teams by smashing home runs or playing small ball.
Miami boasts a leading ACC Player of the Year candidate in breakout star David Thompson—whose eight homers and .672 slugging percentage are third in the conference—and four other regulars with on-base percentages better than .420. Pollard noted the Hurricanes’ speed on the bases—they swipe bags at an 87 percent success rate and have three players with eight or more thefts—as another strong dimension that makes them difficult for any pitching staff to deal with.
Facing perhaps the most complete offense they have seen all year, the Blue Devils will have to buckle down and compete if they hope to end their current four-game losing streak and begin to climb up the conference standings.
“I think the combination of the right-left balance, the speed, combined with the power, I would say it’s the most dynamic offense that we’ve faced,” Pollard said. “We have seen some good offenses—I thought Cal was a very good offense, I thought Campbell was one of the better offenses we’ve played all year—but I would say in terms of being a complete offense, I would put Miami at the top of that list.”
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