Almost any day, nine two-out RBIs will do the trick. Just to be sure, though, Louisville relievers threw four perfect innings to claim the rubber match against Duke.
The No. 5 Cardinals defeated the Blue Devils 11-1 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park Sunday afternoon. Sutton Whiting led Louisville with a pair of hits and four RBI, as Duke scored only once despite putting runners in scoring position each of the first five innings.
“From the third inning on, we just didn’t play well. Period,” head coach Chris Pollard told GoDuke.com. “We gave them six unearned runs, we walked eight guys, we didn’t hit with runners in scoring position, we extended innings…You can’t do that against an average team, much less against one of the top five or six teams in the county.”
Returning from injury, starter Bailey Clark kept the Blue Devils (22-15, 5-13 in the ACC) close, allowing just one run in the first three innings, but Duke could not give him a lead, stranding eight runners on base and four runners in scoring position in the first four frames.
“I thought Bailey Clark made a good adjustment from where he’s been the last couple of weeks,” Pollard said. “I thought the effort was a really good step in the right direction.”
In the fourth, the Blue Devils put themselves in trouble. Reliever Luke Whitten retired Colin Lyman, but two errors, a fielder's choice that did not produce an out and just one hit allowed Louisville (27-8 , 16-2) to take a 4-0 lead. That hit, a Brendan McKay base knock, was part of a 2-for-2, two-walk, three RBI performance by the freshman.
A Jack Labosky two-out hit with runners on first and second put Duke on scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, but the freshman was to be the Blue Devils’ last base-runner of the game aftre Michael Smiciklas struck out to end the frame.
Louisville scratched one across in the sixth with a McKay RBI double. The visitors then got to Ryan Day, James Ziemba and Kevin Lewallyn for five runs on six hits during the next two innings. After the dust had settled, it was 11-1 Louisville, just as it would remain after the Cardinals’ Drew Harrington closed out the ninth.
“They ran some guys out there at the end who haven’t pitched a lot for them and who were very impressive arms, Pollard said. "They’re certainly an Omaha-caliber team because of the way they pitched."
Multiple offensive keys propelled the Cardinals. Louisville batted 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position compared to the Blue Devils’ 1-for-7 clip, and it also had three extra-base hits compared to just one by the hosts.
But the smaller parts of the game also added up to take a toll. Louisville advanced runners 18 times without getting a hit or recording an out, including eight walks, four errors and four stolen bases.
Although Duke put up a seven-spot Wednesday against Richmond, the Blue Devils have now scored just four runs in their past four ACC games and nine in their past six. They are also struggling defensively, having committed seven errors just this series.
Duke will look to use another nonconference contest to get back into a groove, as it hosts UNC Greensboro Tuesday evening at Jack Coombs Field.
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