After dropping all three contests in last weekend’s series against No. 1 North Carolina, the Blue Devils overcame a late-game deficit to take down High Point 5-4 Tuesday night.
Freshman Michael Matuella pitched seven innings and gave up only one earned run, and sophomore Andrew Istler finished off the Panthers (22-21) in the ninth inning after Duke (23-20) rallied from one run down in the bottom of the eighth thanks to key hits from Chris Marconcini and Kenny Koplove.
“It was rough fashion, but at the end of the day a win is a win, and against a quality, well coached club,” Blue Devil head coach Chris Pollard said. “Even though you don’t like to give up a lead the way we did, at the same time you learn something about yourself when you have to battle back in a ball game like that.”
Pollard set a tentative 80-pitch limit for Matuella after the freshman tossed 1.2 scoreless innings in relief Sunday against North Carolina.
After Matuella exited, sophomore Andrew Istler, the Blue Devils’ top reliever with seven saves on the year in 20 appearances, came in to close things out. But the normally sound Istler could not hold onto the lead in the top of the eighth, letting High Point back in the contest.
After popping up the first batter he faced, the sophomore surrendered a double to Devin Bujnovsky when centerfielder Grant McCabe and shortstop Angelo Le Bruna miscommunicated on a fly ball in shallow centerfield and allowed it to drop in between them. Then Stephen Wytiaz doubled down the left field line to bring home Bujnovsky and tie the game at three. Rightfielder Ryan Retz, the Panthers’ most dangerous hitter, singled home Wytiaz to finish off the scoring and give High Point a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
The Blue Devils did not take long to strike back. Betts led off with a walk, and Marconcini ripped his second double of the day to bring in the tying run. After Mark Lumpa made the first out of the inning with a sacrifice bunt to move Marconcini over to third base, Koplove knocked a single over the shortstop’s head to bring home the go-ahead run.
Duke stranded two runners on base to end the eighth, and Istler shut the door in the ninth to pickup his second win of the season after blowing the save.
“Losing a lead and then having to turn it around in the bottom of the eighth, we showed some guts,” Pollard said. “We didn’t show great execution in a lot of the things we did today, but we showed great guts.”
Matuella got to work quickly in the top of the first, setting the Panthers down in order on just six pitches to start the game.
High Point managed to scratch across a run in the top of the second after third baseman Jordan Betts overthrew first base on a routine groundball, allowing the leadoff hitter to advance to second and eventually come around to score.
Duke got on the board in the bottom of the third after Jeff Kremer singled home catcher Ryan Munger with two outs, drawing the score even at one. Then Betts battled through an eight pitch at-bat before knocking a single into right-center to bring home Kremer and give the Blue Devils the lead. Marconcini followed suit by recording his second hit of the day and scoring McCabe.
Marconcini would finish 3-for-4 on the night with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored.
“He made a really good adjustment in the third game against North Carolina,” Pollard said. “He really carried that forward into today and had really good at bats. I think he’s in a good place now, he’s made some good adjustments, and hopefully he can carry that forward the rest of the way.”
After Duke took the lead in the third, Matuella allowed just one more run before his exit in the eighth inning. The freshman finished the day with an impressive stat line—one earned run, three hits, three strikeouts and one walk in seven innings pitched.
“Composure, poise, competitive fire, all those things. [Matuella] showed me a lot today,” Pollard said.
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