The ACC season could not have started any worse for Duke's baseball team.
The Blue Devils, picked in the preseason to finish eighth in the ACC, headed to Charlottesville, Va., for a weekend series with Virginia intent on proving that they can compete in what is likely the toughest conference in the nation. Instead, facing a Cavaliers team that isn't even one of the five ACC teams that have been ranked in the top 25, the Blue Devils didn't just get beat--they got humiliated. Duke (12-13, 0-3 ACC) was swept in the three-game series by a combined score of 28-3, getting out-hit 47-14 in the process, and returned home sitting appropriately at eighth in the conference.
"We didn't hit, and we didn't pitch, and that's everything you need to do to win," freshman Russell Durfee said. "It was just a really tough weekend, and I'm disappointed."
Sunday's game was a fitting culmination for a weekend marked by offensive frustration, as the Blue Devils mustered only four hits and failed to plate a single run. Virginia starting pitcher Chris Gale (2-1) kept the Blue Devil bats ice cold, tossing seven scoreless innings in earning the victory, and shortstop Mark Reynolds came within a double of hitting for the cycle as the
Virginia (13-8, 3-3) opened the scoring in the bottom of the second against Duke starter Kevin Thompson (2-5), as Chris Sweet was hit by a pitch and came around to score on an RBI single by leftfielder Paul Gillispie. The Cavaliers built on their lead in the third, when Matt Dunn led off the inning with a triple down the left field line and scored on Reynolds' sacrifice fly.
The real damage was done in the fifth inning when Reynolds, who went 6-of-12 in pestering Duke pitchers all weekend long, launched a two-run homerun to left-center field. The Cavaliers added another run in the inning, pushing their lead to 5-0, when first baseman Joe Koshansky singled and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Sweet.
Virginia added another run in the seventh on an RBI single by Sweet, but with the Blue Devil bats dormant, the game was all but over.
Saturday, the Cavaliers used a five-run sixth inning to break open what had been a close game, and cruised to a 9-2 victory. With Duke down only 2-1 in the sixth, Virginia victimized Duke reliever Blake Walker with five runs on five consecutive singles, keyed by a two-run single by Gillispie. In a matchup of freshmen, Virginia starter Mike Ballard (1-2) notched his first collegiate victory while Duke's Russell Durfee (0-1) took the loss despite a strong outing.
Friday's action followed the same formula as the rest of the weekend: poor pitching, weak hitting. The Cavaliers pounded out 23 hits to the Blue Devils' four, en route to a 13-1 rout. Virginia starting pitcher Jeff Kamrath (2-1) shut down Duke for eight innings in earning the victory.
If this weekend's auspicious debut is any indication, Duke could be in for a long season. Things certainly don't get any easier from here, as the Blue Devils travel to Winston-Salem next weekend for a three-game series with Wake Forest, ranked 13th by Baseball America, and preseason All-American pitcher Kyle Sleeth. The following weekend, Duke hosts red-hot N.C. State, before a showdown with second-ranked Georgia Tech. As they prepare to face the ACC elite, the Blue Devils will try to erase the memory of an awful beginning to conference play.
"Baseball isn't a game where you think about what happened yesterday," senior pitcher Jeff Alleva said. "Baseball's always played for tomorrowâ_| so we just need to come out and have good practices, and we'll be ready to play next weekend."
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