With the series tied at a game apiece, Duke and No. 18 North Carolina faced off Sunday for Tobacco Road bragging rights. Two freshmen pitchers, Danny Otero and Andrew Miller, started on the mound, but UNC's Miller shut down Duke's offense as the Tar Heels took the series and Sunday's game 14-2.
"It was a tough series," head coach Bill Hillier said. "We took a game from them, a ranked team, at home, and we hadn't beat [UNC] in a few years. So that's good for us."
The Blue Devils (22-20, 7-8 in ACC) and the Tar Heels (31-11, 11-7) were scoreless after three innings, but with two outs in the fourth inning, UNC soon changed that. Marshall Hubbard took Otero long for his 16th home run of the season to put the first run on the board.
After a pair of Tar Heels reached base, Otero was relieved by Greg Burke, who had earned the save in Saturday's game.
Chase Younts drilled a line drive up the middle for an RBI single. Wes Moyer and Bryan Steed added a couple of singles, driving in three. Burke went on to give up three more runs in his next one and one-third innings.
"I felt pretty good going out there [Sunday]," Burke said. "My arm felt pretty good since I only threw 30 pitches [Saturday], but they were getting solid hits. We weren't. I wish I would've pitched better, but I'm not down."
In the bottom of the fifth, UNC's defense kept Duke from potentially scoring runs. With no outs and runners on first and second, Adam Murray bunted a ball that was caught on the fly by the Tar Heels' first baseman. He tagged first and threw to second to finish the triple play and ended the inning. On fire both defensively and offensively, UNC continued scoring in the sixth thanks to a pair of home runs by Chris Ianetta and Hewitt.
The Blue Devils' only runs in Sunday's game came from a two-run shot to centerfield by pinch-hitter Eric Baumann. Duke did not find much success at the plate Sunday because of Miller, who allowed only three hits and struck out five in his seven innings on the mound.
"I have to give Miller credit," Hillier said. "He shut us down offensively. UNC's got two good freshmen arms [Miller and Friday's game winner Daniel Bard]. They're going to win a lot of games in the ACC in the coming years. They even have a chance to pitch in the Big Leagues."
Friday's game was another a high-scoring game for UNC, as the team posted 14 hits in the 11-6 win. Duke had a 3-1 advantage until the fifth, when UNC posted back-to-back four run innings. The Blue Devil's ace Tim Layden struck out six, but gave up seven runs in his third loss of the season.
"I was impressed by [Bard and Miller]," catcher Brian Hernandez said. "We've never seen them before because they're so young, but I was impressed."
However, it wasn't all bad for Duke this weekend. The Blue Devils were able to come from behind to win Saturday's game. Zach Schreiber struck out seven batters in as many innings and gave up only two runs, both in the first. The Blue Devils' bats were quiet until the sixth when Corey Whiting singled to left-centerfield, driving in Layden from second base.
In the seventh, Jonathan Anderson led off and reached first on an error. Javier Socorro doubled, scoring Anderson, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. After Layden struck out, Hernandez singled to centerfield, scoring Socorro and giving Duke the 3-2 lead. The Blue Devils went on to win 4-2--the first for Duke over the Tar Heels since 2001.
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