After scoring 16 runs in its last game Wednesday, Duke had to work a little bit harder for its offense Friday.
With aces Michael Matuella and T.J. Zeuch on the mound for their respective squads, it was the Blue Devils and Matuella who prevailed with a 5-3 win at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Second baseman Andy Perez jacked a 3-run home run in the seventh inning that broke a 2-2 tie and provided the cushion Duke would need to come away with the victory.
“Ambush is a good word for [Perez’ swing],” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “Obviously with some teams and probably us too, we’d be thinking bunt right there. We were hoping we’d get a fastball in that situation, and we were fortunate that we got it. Andy was sitting on it, and he didn’t miss it.”
Zeuch—who entered the game with a 1.15 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 31.1 innings—dominated the Blue Devils (17-5, 3-4 in the ACC) in the early going, putting up four straight zeroes to begin the game and allowing just one single through the first three innings. The 6-foot-7 right-hander baffled Duke with his powerful sinking fastball and sharp breaking ball, fanning eight in six innings of work.
But Zeuch started showing signs of fatigue as he went back out to start the seventh with 89 pitches. A pair of grueling at-bats by first baseman Jalen Phillips and shortstop Kenny Koplove—who transitioned to the mound in the eighth and picked up the save with 1.2 scoreless innings of work—put runners on first and second with nobody out, causing Pittsburgh head coach Joe Jordano to go to his bullpen and bring in reliever Matt Pidich to face Perez.
The Blue Devil captain didn’t give Pidich any time to get comfortable on the mound, squaring up the first pitch he saw from the sophomore right-hander and blasting it over the 400-foot sign in center field for a 3-run homer. The roundtripper was Perez’ second of the week and gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the game with a 5-2 margin.
“We had first and second, no outs, Coach Pollard came right up to me and he said, ‘I want you to swing away.’ I’m lucky that he trusts me to do that,” Perez said. “He just threw a first-pitch fastball and luckily I was able to capitalize on it.”
Matuella took the ball for Duke, finally free of the pitch count restrictions that had limited him to short stints on the hill as he recovered from forearm stiffness. The Great Falls, Va., native climbed the mound for the top of the first and was greeted warmly by Pittsburgh leadoff man Jacob Wright, who took the initial offering from the junior right-hander and bounced it back up the middle for a single. The left fielder promptly stole second and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Nick Yarnall—the first run Matuella had surrendered all season.
“I felt good, definitely good to raise the pitch count a little bit,” Matuella said. “It’s frustrating only pitching three, four innings the last few weekends. It was good to be able to get a little more on the start today.”
The Panthers (9-11, 3-4) extended their lead to 2-0 on another sac fly in the fifth frame, but not before a scary sequence of events for the Blue Devils. Pittsburgh center fielder Aaron Schnurbusch attempted to steal second, and as Duke catcher Mike Rosenfeld rose from his crouch to throw him out, he was clipped by the swing of batter Jordan Frabasilio. Rosenfeld—well-regarded for his gritty attitude—instantly went down in pain, drawing the attention of the entire Blue Devil staff.
The Mamaroneck, N.Y., native managed to stay in the game for the rest of the half-inning, but dropped a costly passed ball that helped the Panthers score their second run of the night later in the frame.
With its senior catcher and emotional leader injured, Duke wasted no time in answering back and breaking through against Zeuch. The fifth inning began with two quick outs, but Perez—who finished 2-for-4 and collected his third consecutive multi-hit game—drew a walk and stole second to give the Blue Devils a sign of life. Freshman Michael Smiciklas entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Rosenfeld and lined a two-out single to center field two batters later to plate Perez and cut the deficit to 2-1.
Duke used a little bit of trickery to push another run across and tie the game. With Smiciklas on first and fellow freshman Max Miller on third, Smiciklas broke for second as Zeuch was still holding his set position on the mound. Zeuch wheeled around and fired to second to cut off Miller. At the same time, Miller broke for home—utilizing a beautiful hook slide to touch the plate just ahead of the ensuing throw from the second baseman and even the game at 2-2.
“That’s huge, [Rosenfeld] is the leader of this team, he’s a rock behind the plate. When he went out, everyone was just kind of standing right there,” Perez said. “It’s like Coach said in the locker room, we’re one pitch away from being in the game. Then Mike Smiciklas comes in and has an absolutely huge hit for us to put us right back in the game.”
Matuella began to tire in the seventh inning and was removed in favor of lefty Mitch Stallings after giving up a base hit to put runners on first and second with one out. Both runners were Matuella’s responsibility, but Stallings came in and ended the threat by retiring the next two batters, leaving Matuella with a final line of two runs—one earned—five hits and five strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work.
Duke and Pittsburgh return to the diamond for a 1 p.m. contest Saturday with senior Andrew Istler on the mound for the Blue Devils to face the Panthers’ Aaron Sandefur.
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