It was déjà vu all over again.
Duke’s historic struggles against Florida State continued over the weekend, as the Blue Devils (21-16, 6-12 in the ACC) dropped two of three games to the Seminoles.
No. 6 Florida State (28-9, 12-6) has won every series it has played at Duke’s home field, and even a switch to the USA National Baseball Complex in Cary could not change the Blue Devils’ luck.
In the opener, Duke starter Christopher Manno continued his struggles on the mound, surrendering six runs in only one inning of work. The bullpen was no more effective, though, with the Seminoles smashing their way to a 16-3 victory. Manno has performed progressively worse over his four starts and has shown none of the form that made him the Blue Devils’ most promising starter heading into the season.
“I just think it’s inconsistency,” Duke head coach Sean McNally said. “Sometimes you get in a stretch where when you make a mistake, it gets hit hard. That’s what’s happened to him—he’s made some bad pitches and he’s paid for it.”
Saturday’s game started out in similar fashion, with Florida State jumping out to a 5-1 lead. Unlike Friday, though, Duke was able to wake up the bats to earn a 10-6 comeback victory.
In the sixth, senior Will Currier started the Blue Devils’ four-run rally with a double and was quickly brought around by consecutive singles from Jeremy Gould, Marcus Stroman and Brian Litwin. After the Seminoles regained the lead in their half of the seventh to make the score 6-5, the Blue Devils struck back again in the bottom of the frame, capped by a two-run double off the bat of Litwin, who finished with three hits and three RBIs. After a solid start by Dennis O’Grady, Stroman held Florida State to only one hit over the final three innings to earn the win.
“I like the pressure situations, coming in as the closer,” Stroman said. “I attacked the zone, mixed up my pitches, hit some spots. I just had my command going.”
In the series’ rubber match, Duke sent Chase Bebout to the mound. Sporting a 4-0 record with a 3.21 ERA and fresh off a dominating start against then-No. 11 Clemson, the rookie cruised through the first four innings, giving up only one hit. In the fifth, however, the Seminoles took a 4-3 lead as Bebout lost control of his fastball, allowing two hits and three walks. Florida State never looked back, winning 8-3.
“He was commanding the ball so well early on,” McNally said. “I think the biggest part of it is being a 6-foot-7 righthanded pitcher with a lot of things going a lot of different directions.”
After both starting pitchers were removed following the fifth inning, the game came down to a battle of the bullpens. The Duke relief was ineffective, giving up four runs, while its Seminole counterpart no-hit the Blue Devil lineup the rest of the way. Although Duke managed to get two runners on base with no outs in the ninth against closer Mike McGee, the All-American retired the next three Blue Devils to secure the win.
In the end, Duke found itself in a position it knows all too well, outlasted by another of the ACC’s elite.
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