The Blue Devils wasted a strong outing by Marcus Stroman and fell to Boston College 6-4 in 11 innings Sunday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It was the rubber match of a three-game series that saw Duke take the opener before dropping the next two contests.
After taking a 4-1 lead into the eighth in the series finale, Duke failed to close the win, surrendering two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. An Eagles’ (13-16, 6-8 in the ACC) two-out, two-run single in the 11th proved to be the difference.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” head coach Sean McNally said. “The situational hitting was poor, we had a 4-1 lead in the eighth, just needed to get six outs, and we just couldn’t finish the game.”
Stroman started for the Blue Devils (19-16, 4-11) and pitched brilliantly. The sophomore righty gave Duke seven quality innings at a brisk pace, allowing only one run and six hits while surrendering only one walk. He also tallied a season-high nine strikeouts.
“I wanted to attack the hitters and be aggressive,” Stroman said. “Sometimes I have a tendency to be too cute, too fine with my pitches. [I wanted] to really just go out there and attack the strike zone and be efficient.”
Will Piwnica-Worms led off the second with a double and came around to score the game’s first run on a David Perkins groundout. Missed opportunities characterized Duke’s offense afterward—the team stranded a man on second in the fifth inning and left the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh.
Stroman managed to stay out of trouble until the seventh inning. He struck out two hitters after giving up a double led in his final frame, with an ensuing RBI single proving to be the only blemish on his day. A Perkins error on the play extended the inning, but Stroman ended the threat and his day with his final strikeout.
Perkins immediately redeemed himself, however, recapturing the lead in the bottom of the seventh with his first career home run—a towering fly ball down the left field line that eeked past the foul pole and barely cleared the 32-foot Blue Monster. The homer sparked a rally that resulted in two more runs from Duke.
“It felt good off the bat,” Perkins said. “We were in a tough spot and I was just trying to do my job—see the ball and hit it.”
Drew Van Orden started the eighth, but gave up three quick hits and lasted only a third of an inning. Eric Pfisterer replaced him but his season-long control problems continued. Back-to back walks forced in a run, before a bases loaded, two-out strikeout ended the inning with the Blue Devils clinging to a one-run lead.
Pfisterer issued another walk in the ninth before Ben Grisz relieved him. Grisz promptly gave up two singles to tie the game before inducing an inning-ending double play.
David Putnam escaped a jam in the 10th but Boston College finally broke through with a two-run single with two outs in the 11th. Duke went down in order to end the game.
“We’re looking for answers on that pitching staff right now,” McNally said.
Duke used 16 hits to mash their way to a 10-6 win in the opener on Friday but blew an early lead Saturday and lost 5-3 to even up the series. Sunday’s defeat gave the Blue Devils their fourth straight series loss in conference play.
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