In an effort to curtail inflated offensive numbers across the board in college baseball, the NCAA decided to use less potent aluminum bats for the '99 season.
You could have fooled the Duke pitchers this weekend.
In their season-opening trip to Kissimmee, Fla., to participate in the Olive Garden Classic, the Blue Devils (0-2) were lit up for 20 runs in the series' first two games, dropping their season-opener to Central Florida 8-5 on Friday and getting hammered 12-0 by Rice Saturday. Adding insult to injury, Duke led South Alabama 1-0 in the fourth inning yesterday before the game was canceled due to rain.
Fielding a lineup with four first-time starters against UCF on Friday, the Blue Devils dug themselves a hole early with a defensive miscue, an ominous sign of things to come. Freshman first baseman Kevin Kelly botched a potential third out in the frame, and the Golden Knights capitalized with back-to-back doubles to push their lead to 4-0.
UCF then knocked out Duke ace Stephen Cowie with four more runs in the fourth on four straight hits, culminating with a three-run homer, to open the inning. Although Steve Schroeder, Pat Hannaway and Teddy Sullivan shut out the Golden Knights on one hit over the last five frames, Duke could not muster enough offense to overcome the eight-run deficit.
Facing No. 6 Rice on Saturday, the Blue Devils were dominated from start to finish. Owls' All-American lefty Mario Ramos and Jon Skaggs combined to twirl an impressive five-hit shutout on five singles.
After an error by rightfielder Gideon Thompson contributed to a two-run first inning, the Rice bats stayed quiet until the fourth, when the Owls strung together six hits, a walk and an error, chasing Duke starter Brent Reid and securing a comfortable 8-0 lead.
Sophomore Ryan Caradonna relieved Reid but could not stop the bleeding, as the Owls scored three more runs before John Benik and Tyler Lang, two position players making their debut on the mound, came on in mop-up duty.
Compounding the problems on the mound for Duke was its sloppiness with the leather. The Blue Devils committed six errors in the two games, leading to seven unearned runs for the opposition.
The weekend's lone bright spot came, appropriately, in a game that did not count. Junior lefty Chris Capuano had worked four scoreless innings against South Alabama before showers forced the game's cancellation.
The Blue Devils will have to wait a week before their chance for redemption comes next weekend against UNC-Wilmington at historic Jack Coombs Field on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
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