Tim Layden knew he had to get back on track. Duke's ace starter, Layden was dismantled by Clemson in the ACC regular season finale Saturday, leaving the mound in the third inning after allowing four runs.
After the junior walked off the hill in the ninth inning last night against Virginia in the opening round of the ACC Tournament, though, he knew he recovered.
"I wanted to go with one of my best arms," head coach Bill Hillier said of the first-team All-ACC lefty. "We had to set the tone with our pitching."
After a two and a half hour rain delay in Salem, Va., starter Greg Burke was cold. Layden pitched six brilliant innings of relief, leading the Blue Devils to a thrilling 6-5 victory over the No. 7 Cavaliers.
"It's a big win," Burke said, who threw over 50 pitches in the first three innings. "We just went out there and threw strikes, made our pitches. Our offense got some key hits."
Seventh-seeded Duke (25-29) used a four-run third inning and then, over two hours later, a two-run fourth to stun the second-seeded Cavaliers and advance to the second round of the tournament. Over the past few years, the Blue Devils have struggled against Virginia (42-12), losing 10 straight dating back to March 18, 2001. Duke thrived against Virginia's ace starter and ACC Player of the Year Joe Koshansky.
Koshansky posted a 7-2 record and 2.78 ERA during the regular season but was not on his game last night, pitching just three innings and allowing four runs on seven hits.
Layden struggled in the ACC season finale against Clemson, working for just over two innings and allowing four earned runs. Pitching on three days' rest, however, he worked six solid innings, allowing one earned run and striking out seven.
The Cavaliers took a two-run lead by scoring in the first two innings, but the Blue Devils exploded in the third. Shortstop Adam Murray and catcher Brian Hernandez each hit RBI singles to start the inning, and second baseman Bryan Smith smashed a two-run homer to put the Blue Devils ahead, 4-2.
The Cavaliers went on to score three more runs, one each in the third, sixth and seventh innings, but could not overcome Duke. Socorro, also on the All-ACC team hit an RBI single and Adam Murray a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give Duke its last two runs of the game. Going four-for-five with two RBIs, Socorro led the Blue Devils. Shortstop Adam Murray and centerfielder Jonathan Anderson each went two-for-four.
Hillier has maintained that his team's performance hinges on its pitching. The coach emphasized the need for starter Zach Schreiber to set the pace tomorrow against Florida State.
"There's a bunch of good teams in this tournament right now," Hillier said. "If we go out and play well, we can beat any one of them."
The Blue Devils, though, did not look as solid in their ACC regular season finale this past weekend as they did against the Cavaliers. Duke took one of three games from Clemson, beating the Tigers last Friday in a 2-1 outing when Schreiber pitched.
"You've got to give a tremendous amount of credit to Zach [Friday]," Hillier said. "He pitched a great game."
Schreiber put in eight solid innings of work, allowing just one run early in the second inning. The win stopped the Blue Devils' nine-game losing streak.
In the final game of the regular season, starter Tim Layden, who leads the team on the mound and at the plate, struggled with his location early, allowing the Tigers to score five runs in the third. Layden was pulled, and the Blue Devils lost 9-6.
Duke plays its second round game today at 8:30 p.m. against the Seminoles, who knocked off N.C. State 6-5 last night. Florida State did not begin its game with the Wolfpack until after 11:00 p.m. Wednesday, and like the Blue Devils, will have to make a quick turnaround. Duke was swept by Florida State earlier this month in Tallahassee, were Layden struggled mightily. Maybe the struggles are over.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.