Last April, the Blue Devils clawed their way to an 11-10 win against N.C. State, scoring seven runs in their final two at-bats to shock the Wolfpack. That victory was the beginning of a 10-game winning streak that propelled Duke into the ACC tournament.
The Blue Devils' comeback Saturday night may have been even better.
After being held quiet for the middle six frames, the Duke bats exploded for six runs in the ninth inning to stun Virginia 9-7 at Davenport Field in Charlottesville, Va., to even the three-game series. A day later, the Blue Devils again made noise in the ninth—but not enough to make up a three-run deficit, as they fell 4-2 in the series finale.
"I would say it's right up there with the N.C. State win last year," head coach Chris Pollard said of Saturday's thriller. "As far as putting together back-to-back-to-back-to-back really good at-bats, I thought that was really as good of a ninth inning as I can remember in the last several years, for sure."
Trailing 7-3 and down to its last three outs, the Blue Devils (28-21, 8-18 in the ACC) got a little life when pinch-hitter Ryan Day led off with a double. Following a flyout from second baseman Andy Perez, five straight batters reached base to cut the lead to one. Freshman Peter Zyla and redshirt senior Mike Rosenfeld plated three runs with consecutive doubles before shortstop Kenny Koplove tied the game on a sacrifice fly.
With two outs, first baseman Justin Bellinger stepped into the box and roped a single to right field to bring home a pair of runs—making Saturday a day of redemption for the Weston, Mass., native after an error Friday allowed Virginia to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth to snap a 1-1 tie. The freshman responded with three hits in the comeback victory, including his second triple of the year.
"I thought it was awesome—he had three hits, [two] RBIs, bounced back with a good game defensively, played well again [Sunday]," Pollard said. "I thought Max Miller had really good bounce-back game [Saturday] too. He had a tough night on Friday night, bounced back and played really well as well."
Like the aftermath of the N.C. State game, Pollard said he felt a bit of a carry-over effect from Saturday's comeback into Sunday's matinee. Despite putting together more quality at-bats at the plate, Duke could not turn them into runs.
The Blue Devils outhit the Cavaliers (29-19, 12-15) 9-7 but scratched across just two runs, both courtesy of redshirt sophomore Jalen Phillips. Duke's best scoring chance came in the sixth, when the Blue Devils loaded the bases with nobody out. But Phillips was limited to a sacrifice fly and Virginia hurler Josh Sborz escaped further damage to preserve the Cavaliers' 4-1 lead.
An inning later, Perez sent a shot to left field with a runner aboard, but left fielder Pavin Smith leaped up to take a homer away from the senior.
"It's part of the game but at the same time it's further evidence that we swung it well today, we just didn't see the runs across the plate like we did yesterday," Pollard said. "Certainly we got guys in scoring position a couple different times. we had the one big missed opportunity where we loaded the bases with nobody out and only came away with it with one run. You look back and that was a big moment in the ballgame, but guys are a lot more comfortable in the box."
Sophomore Bailey Clark took the ball Sunday against Virginia looking to build off of his last start—six scoreless innings in a win against N.C. Central May 3—but was done in by a lack of command. The Asheville, N.C., native walked in a run with one out in the third to give Virginia a 3-0 lead—Clark's second free pass of the inning and third of the afternoon—bringing Pollard out of the dugout to summon right-hander Sarkis Ohanian from the bullpen.
The Boynton Beach, Fla., native made sure Pollard would not have to make another trip to the mound the rest of the afternoon.
Ohanian fired 5.2 innings of one-run ball, yielding just four hits without a walk and racking up three strikeouts. Thanks to the senior's efforts, the Blue Devils came to bat in the ninth still within striking distance.
Pollard said the coaching staff decided Sunday morning that Ohanian—who lowered his ERA to a stingy 1.91—would be the first reliever out of the bullpen, regardless of the situation. Given as long a leash as possible after throwing just six pitches in Friday night's game, the 5-foot-11 righty used his slider to carve through the Cavalier lineup.
"We felt like he was a good matchup for this team and he pitched terrific. I can't say enough good things about his performance," Pollard said. "They've got a number of guys if you go up and down their lineup that the numbers would suggest that a right-handed pitcher with a good breaking ball is going to have success against them."
Phillips launched his third homer of the season to lead off the ninth and cut the Virginia lead to two and Duke brought the tying run to the plate after Bellinger drew a one-out walk. Pinch-hitting for the second time in as many days, Day could not rekindle the rally he created Saturday night, grounding into a 4-6-3 game-ending double play.
The loss in the rubber game was a critical blow to Duke's postseason chances with just one weekend of ACC play remaining. The Blue Devils—who sit 3.5 games behind the Cavaliers for the conferences' final playoff spot—will close out the regular season with a four-game homestand, beginning Tuesday against Longwood at 6 p.m.
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