After roughing up the Peter McNeely's and Buster Mathis Jr.'s of the world in the past week, the struggling fighter aiming to get back to respectability is about to be introduced to Evander Holyfield.
While Duke baseball looked sharp last week, pounding Division II opponents Guilford and St. Andrews, and a lower-echelon Division I team in Davidson, it faces a monumental challenge this weekend as the No. 5 Clemson Tigers (33-5, 7-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) roll into historic Jack Coombs Field for a three game series.
Clemson, the highest ranked team in the ACC, looks to hang another sweep on the Blue Devils (28-10, 3-8), who have walked away from three of their four conference series without a win.
Clemson has reasons to be a bit confident heading into the weekend. The Tigers have taken all three of their conference series, including a three game sweep over cellar-dwelling Maryland by a combined 24 runs.
"We know what we're facing," Duke coach Steve Traylor said. "I think without a doubt, Clemson is the best team in the league this year. When you look at team defense, team speed, offense and pitching, Clemson has all that."
Second team preseason All-American Ryan Mottl (7-1, 4.12 ERA) and Skip Browning (5-1, 4.56) headline Clemson's starting pitching arsenal. The Tigers, however, hold the ultimate trump card in the bullpen. Senior submariner Scott Clackum (5-0, 0.87, 6 saves, .157 batting average against) may be the hardest closer to solve in the ACC.
Surprising as it may be, however, Clemson's strength lies in its hitting. The Tigers are averaging more than 10 runs per contest and have scored more than 10 runs in an inning a whopping five times this season-attesting to its balanced, yet potent, line-up.
While Matt Padgett (.424, 8 HRs, 34 RBIs)-who also acts as the starting kicker on the football team-may be the engine of Clemson's offensive machine, centerfielder Patrick Boyd is certainly the spark-plug (.366, 7 HR, 41 RBIs, 11SB) that gets the machine going.
"He's really sound mechanically and everything," said Wes Goodner, a Duke outfielder and a former rival of Boyd in high school. "Sometimes, when we were in high school, we'd think he was kind of high on himself. He's a good guy, he goes out, he produces."
Despite being selected in the second round of last June's amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners, Boyd elected to turn down a sizable offer from Seattle to showcase his wares in Clemson.
"He's definitely a college-oriented young man, academically and socially-it's just been a great experience for him so far," Clemson coach Jack Leggett said. "He took a strong stand on [his intentions to go to college] from the beginning, so you have to respect his feelings. He's got a chance to be an outstanding prospect."
Indeed, Baseball America has already tabbed Boyd as the fifth best pro prospect in the ACC. After starting the season 3-for-25 at the plate, Boyd has since caught fire, hitting .417 in his last 30 games.
"He's the most humble guy I've ever met," said Justin Singleton, Clemson third-baseman and Boyd's roommate. "He knows he can play, he's not going to go out there and let everybody know it. Our recruiting class was ranked third in the country. I made a comment around the batting cages one day, I said, 'thanks to you Patrick, we're third in the country.' He said, 'no, it's everybody.'"
Boyd, Peter Nystrom and Singleton are the trio of impact freshman in Clemson's batting order that have wreaked havoc in ballparks throughout the ACC, and they will look to continue that trend this weekend against Duke starters Chris Capuano, Ryan Caradonna and Stephen Cowie. Clemson will oppose with Mottl, Mike Paradis and Browning.
After tumbling out of the top-25 rankings from a school-best No. 11 ranking earlier this season, Duke desperately needs wins to climb back into contention for a NCAA regional berth. This weekend, however, Duke will take on the challenge by adopting the proverbial 'one day at a time' approach.
"I don't think there's any such thing as a must-win situation," Traylor said. "We're going to worry about the first inning on Friday, then after that, we'll worry about the second inning on Friday.
"It doesn't matter if we're playing Clemson or Guilford or Florida, it doesn't make any difference. We are at a point in the season where we understand we have to execute better. We have very short-term goals, we just have to play the game right. If we do, we can play with anybody."
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