With the regular season coming to an end, Duke will have one of its final opportunities this weekend to earn its first NCAA tournament berth since 1961.
The Blue Devils will conclude their home campaign with a three-game series against No. 7 Florida State beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Duke is currently on a five-game winning streak—which includes victories against Longwood and Norfolk State this week—but needs a strong showing against the Seminoles to boost its resume before finishing the regular season at Pittsburgh next weekend.
The Blue Devils—who enter the weekend tied for 12th place with North Carolina in the ACC standings—are on the outside looking in on the ACC tournament, which accepts the conference’s top 10 teams. Duke also stands as one of the first four out in Baseball America’s projected 64-team NCAA tournament field.
“All we have to worry about right now is playing our best baseball in [Friday's] ballgame,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said after Wednesday's game against Norfolk State. “The best way to approach the next two ACC series is to turn [them] into six one-game seasons. So [Friday] is its own separate season. [Saturday] is its own separate season. And that’s the way you approach a situation like what were in.”
Although it leads the ACC’s Atlantic Division, Florida State (32-15, 14-6 in the ACC) has been vulnerable lately. The Seminoles began the month by losing two of three to unranked Clemson, and after sweeping Bowling Green State last weekend, Florida State fell to Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast this week.
Duke, by contrast, has found ways to win since dropping two of three in its series against then-No. 12 N.C. State April 30.
After sweeping Gardner-Webb in a doubleheader Sunday, the Blue Devils (29-20, 10-14) routed Longwood 11-5 Tuesday thanks to strong hitting from the bottom half of the lineup. Junior designated hitter Chris Perez and sophomore right fielder Michael Smiciklas, who hit in the seventh and eighth spots of the lineup, respectively, led Duke with three RBIs each. Freshman shortstop Zack Kone added two hits and two RBIs in four at-bats out of the sixth spot.
A day later, although their offense initially stalled and closer Mitch Stallings blew a save in the ninth frame, the Blue Devils secured a 4-3 win against Norfolk State after a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning.
Despite Stallings’ late missed opportunity, the Duke pitching staff matched a season high with 14 strikeouts. Several Blue Devil hitters also found a rhythm, including freshman centerfielder Jimmy Herron and sophomore Jack Labosky, who combined for five hits and three RBIs.
“Anytime you have to play in a close game like that, you learn more about yourself,” Pollard said. “To have to win in extra innings, I think all of those things kind of help build character down the stretch.”
Against the Seminoles, Pollard will turn to his usual weekend rotation with graduate students Kellen Urbon and Trent Swart on the mound Friday and Saturday, respectively. Brian McAfee—who leads the Blue Devils with three complete games—will close out the series Sunday.
Urbon, Swart and McAfee have been among Duke’s most reliable pitchers this season, with each sporting an ERA below 3.70. But the trio will be tested against a Seminole lineup that has depended on patient hitting to generate runs.
Florida State has five regular starters batting at .300 or better and has combined for a .410 on-base percentage as a team—.75 better than the team's opponents. The Seminoles have also proven that they can hit for power, with a .447 team slugging percentage and 40 home runs—17 of which have come from Cal Raleigh and Dylan Busby.
“We have to really limit free bases. They’re an offense that relies on free bases. They like to take their walks,” Pollard said. “They like to take the [hit-by-pitch] and use that to play for big innings. So that’s going to be the key."
The Seminoles will counter Duke’s starting rotation with right-handers Drew Carlton Friday, Cole Sands Saturday and Ed Voyles Sunday. Voyles is fourth among Florida State pitchers with a 2.84 ERA, and Carlton has a team-leading six wins. Sands has been the weakest of the three with an ERA of 4.02.
"We’ve got to try to score. They’re going to get their runs, we’ve got to get our runs,” Pollard said. “We’re going to have opportunities to put together runs and we’ve got to try to minimize what they do.”
Hank Tucker contributed reporting.
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