In case you were wondering how the ACC baseball schedule differs from The Bible, your answer is in. In The Bible, after you slay Goliath, you get to go home. But on the heels of knocking off Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils (11-21, 2-4 in the ACC) get rewarded with a matchup against the 22nd-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons (21-9-1, 3-3).
This series, which begins today at 3 p.m. at historic Jack Coombs Field, will present problems for both the Duke pitching staff and lineup.
Nonetheless, the Blue Devils, bolstered by strong play of late, are enthusiastic heading into the weekend.
"I'd say we're very upbeat and excited coming off a strong ACC weekend," pitcher Brad Dupree said. "I think everyone is fired up. The first home ACC series is always very exciting."
Wake Forest boasts the third best pitching staff in the conference. The Demons Deacons have a 3.94 team ERA and have almost a 2-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The ace of the staff is Scott Simeon, who leads the conference in shutouts, is tied for the lead in wins and is third with a Pedro Martinez-esque 1.59 ERA.
In addition to Simeon, Wake Forest has Ben Clayton, who is fourth in the conference in strikeouts, and two pitchers in the top eight in saves.
The Demon Deacon pitching staff presents a problem, but it is their offense that presents the biggest difficulties.
Wake Forest scores runs, lots of them.
The Demon Deacons are averaging over nine per game-or for the purposes of comparison, over twice the number scored by the Blue Devils. Wake Forest has actually scored 16 mores runs than Duke has hits.
The Demon Deacons are third in the conference in batting average, hitting .330 as a team. That number puts them almost .070 above the Blue Devils, who currently sit last in the conference at .264.
While the Demon Deacons have the stats, Dupree said the Duke pitching staff might have an advantage heading into the series.
"There definitely is a level of concern," he said. "But our pitching coach coached at Wake Forest last year and knows how to pitch a lot of their hitters, so we are actually in a better position than we normally are going into the series."
Wake Forest has four players with more than 30 RBIs. Dan Conway leads the ACC in home runs with nine, and both Cory Sullivan and Corey Slavik are in the top seven in batting average.
The power numbers stand out, but Dupree said that to be successful, the Blue Devils will have to such down Sullivan.
"I would say that according to our scouting report, Sullivan is the key to how their offense goes," he said. "If we can get him out, we can prevent a lot of other aspects of their game."
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