Duke's bats went colder than the frigid Durham air this week as the Blue Devils dropped both games of a midweek series against Pennsylvania.
The Quakers topped No. 22 Duke 7-6 in 11 innings Tuesday and scored two runs in the ninth inning to win 3-1 Wednesday night at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The two losses snapped a 14-game winning streak against Ivy League competition for the Blue Devils dating back to 2013.
"They got the big hit when they needed it, and we didn’t," head coach Chris Pollard said after Wednesday's loss. "We left a lot of guys on base again tonight. I thought we pitched a lot better, did a lot better job of limiting free offense. We certainly built off of that, but we had our opportunities offensively and just didn’t cash in."
A series of miscues and a lack of timely hitting cost Duke (9-4) the game Wednesday with a chance to split the series. Penn's first run crossed the plate in the fourth inning to tie the game after second baseman committed an error charging a soft chopper to get the rally started. Freshman Craig Larsen, batting at the bottom of the order, then delivered an RBI single into left field just past a diving Ethan Murray at shortstop.
The Quakers (2-3) then capitalized on soft contact and more mistakes to win it in the ninth. A grounder to the right side by Matt McGeagh pulled first baseman Chris Crabtree off the bag, and reliever Matt Dockman was slow to cover first as McGeagh beat the throw. Larsen then hit a two-out single with McGeagh on second base, and the throw from left fielder Kyle Gallagher got to freshman catcher Rudy Maxwell with plenty of time to record an inning-ending out, but Maxwell dropped the ball trying to apply the tag. Penn tacked on an insurance run when its next batter, Tommy Courtney, dropped a single into center field.
"The takeaway for our guys has to be that these little things matter. We emphasize these things in practice, and we have to take that to the field with us. We’ve got a lot of young guys out there going through this for the first time, and there’s a learning curve there," Pollard said. "Kyle Gallagher made two great throws. Both times the run scored from second base, we executed a really good throw from left field and we’ve got to communicate a little better on those, and we’ve got to handle the baseball a little bit better."
The Blue Devils scored their lone run in the third inning when junior captain Kennie Taylor slapped a single and scored on an RBI single by Maxwell, but could have scored many more. Duke stranded 12 men on base, leaving the bases loaded in the first and eighth innings and putting two more on with just one out in the ninth before coming away empty-handed. Taylor had three hits in both games of the week, but none of his teammates had that many in either contest.
The Blue Devils also put a runner in scoring position in the sixth after Erikson Nichols singled and advanced on a grounder, but he ran himself out of the inning on a poor read on a pitch in the dirt that slid through the catcher's legs. Nichols hesitated in the middle of the base path for multiple seconds before taking off for third too late and getting thrown out easily.
Duke did get impressive work on the mound from freshmen Ben Gross and Kyle Salley as well as returner Matt Mervis and struck out 11 Quakers, maintaining its throne as the nation's leader in strikeouts per nine innings.
"I knew going into the year that this was going to be a team just because of the quality of our stuff that we’d produce a lot of swing and miss, and so far we’ve been able to do that," Pollard said. "That doesn’t mean that we’re trying to do it, but when you’ve got good stuff and you’re aggressive to the zone, that’s going to happen."
The Blue Devils' first game of the midweek series didn’t go well either, as they scored in each of the first four innings Tuesday to seize a 6-3 lead but went quiet the rest of the way. Penn chipped away with three runs to tie it up in the sixth and seventh innings, and the tying score crossed the plate on a two-out single off the bat of senior catcher Matt O’Neill.
The Quakers struck again in the top of the 11th inning, getting to Duke closer Thomas Girard with a single, sacrifice bunt and a game-winning single by Courtney. The Blue Devils put two runners on base with one out in the bottom half of the inning, threatening to tie or win the game, but Gallagher grounded into a game-ending double play.
Duke had a chance to win in the 10th frame as well, but couldn’t take advantage of three free passes—two walks and one hit batter—as it left the bases loaded.
The Blue Devils will bus north this weekend for their first ACC series of the season at Virginia Friday through Sunday.
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