For Duke, everything seemed in place for a successful weekend series against N.C. State, a team it had not played in more than two years.
Earlier in the week, the Blue Devils had bounced back from a weekend sweep with a 10-0 victory, and junior slugger Nate Freiman was returning from an 18-game stint on the disabled list. Over that stretch, Duke's run production plummeted from 9.3 to 5.1 runs per game.
But at the end of the three-game series, Duke (23-12, 5-12 in the ACC) had captured only one win against the Wolfpack (23-11, 10-7), taking Friday's contest 4-1 before falling 8-1 Saturday and 12-7 Sunday in Raleigh.
The Blue Devils' struggles at N.C. State give them a 3-7 mark on the road, as opposed to a 20-5 record at Jack Coombs Field.
Duke began the series successfully, as Freiman asserted himself immediately. The first baseman stepped up to the batter's box with the bases loaded and no outs, after Wolfpack pitcher Clayton Shunick had walked Gabriel Saade, beaned Alexander Hassan and given up a single to Matt Williams. Facing a 1-2 count, Freiman drilled a double just inside the right-field foul line to give the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead. Jeremy Gould then hit a sacrifice fly to send Williams home for the 3-0 edge.
Freiman added to his strong return with a solo home run in the eighth inning to set the final score at 4-1.
Those four runs were more than enough for Duke pitcher Andrew Wolcott, who allowed just three hits in six innings and surrendered only one score. Wolcott gave way after six innings to Michael Ness, who struck out four in three innings for his second save of the season.
The rest of the weekend did not go nearly as well for the Blue Devils, however, as they gave up 20 runs in the other two games-the most in a two-game span this season.
In the second contest, Pat Ferguson and Marcus Jones combined to hit three home runs and drive in six for N.C. State in its 8-1 win. In all, the Wolfpack bombed four home runs. Duke had gone nine straight games without surrendering a home run and had allowed only 11 on the year.
N.C. State pitched as well as it swung, as starter Eric Surkamp gave up just one run on seven hits in six innings, and Jake Buchanan held the Blue Devils hitless in the last three innings.
In the series finale, a six-run second inning proved to be too much for Duke to overcome. Although the Blue Devils cut the lead to three in the fifth, they could not contain the Wolfpack offense, whose 12 runs were the most given up by Duke this season.
Facing Clemson next weekend, the Blue Devils must square off against another top foe in their quest to qualify for the ACC Tournament. With everything lined up this weekend, Duke could have made its task easier by making up ground in the conference standings-but didn't.
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