The baseball team looked into the future of its pitching staff and received a very positive reading this weekend.
Junior David Darwin and freshman Clayton Connor, forced to become Duke's starting aces because of preseason injuries to senior Craig Starman and junior Scott Schoeneweis, both threw complete games to lead the Blue Devils (14-2) to a doubleheader sweep of Georgetown, 7-2 and 5-1.
"We just got two outstanding games from those two guys," head coach Steve Traylor said.
Darwin allowed no earned runs and only five singles in seven innings, earning his fourth win without a loss. His excellent start this season has been a relief after last year, when he posted a shockingly high 5.83 ERA.
"I thought David gave us a great game today," Traylor said. "He had good velocity, [and] it seemed like he had great movement on his fastballs. I think he's getting better every time he goes out. I think that was his best outing."
The Hoyas struck first in the opening game, scoring an unearned run against Darwin. But the Blue Devil starter settled down as the game progressed, breezing through the Georgetown order in the late innings.
"I thought Darwin got better as the game went on," Traylor said. "As we got to the later innings, I thought he was even more effective than he was early."
In the second game, Connor followed a pattern similar to his teammate's. He consistently retired Hoya batters, but went far into the count early in the game. After a few innings, though, Connor improved and shut down the Georgetown bats with ease.
"I think [Connor] also got better as the game went on," Traylor said. "I think he was throwing his best when he got to the fifth, sixth and seventh innings."
For Connor, the game signified a major step forward. The freshman has impressed his coaches and teammates ever since opening eyes with a surprisingly good performance during fall intrasquad games. Sunday, though, he lacked full command of his pitches but overcame his problems and still found a way to win.
"He knows how to win when he doesn't have his best stuff," Traylor said. "I don't think that he had as good velocity as he usually has or as good command early as he usually has.
"He knows how to pitch. He throws strikes, he can spot his pitches, he can throw his off-speed stuff for strikes. Keeping hitters off-balance, that's the bottom line to being an effective pitcher. It's keeping hitters off-balance and off-rhythm, and he's the master at that."
Georgetown (1-5) did not present the toughest of competition for the Blue Devils, who have now won 14 straight contests over weaker opponents. But while the Hoyas may not have given the Blue Devils a run for their money, the Duke players still appreciated the opportunity to face an unfamiliar opponent.
"In practice, when you go to game situations, you're not taking it that seriously," leftfielder Adam Geis said. "They had two pitchers that were pretty good, especially [Hoya lefthanded pitcher Michael Eagles]. Any lefty is going to give you problems because you don't see many of them."
The Blue Devils are using the early-season non-conference games to prepare for the tough Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. Duke travels to Clemson next weekend for a three-game series that will give the team its first real test since the beginning of the season, when Arizona State swept the Blue Devils in a two-game series.
Although the defending ACC champion Tigers should offer Duke a much more serious challenge than most of the its opponents have, the Blue Devils will approach their conference foes with the same strategies that they have used to conquer teams like Georgetown.
"We are not going to do anything any different with Clemson than we did with Georgetown," Traylor said. "We're going to pitch to our pitchers' strengths and not the hitters' weaknesses. We may not be as effective against Clemson as we are against Georgetown, but it's not going to be because of a different approach on our part.
"We couldn't be any more prepared. I don't think we could be playing any more solid baseball than we're doing right now. We're right on track."
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