At the halfway point of the regular season, the Blue Devils sported a disappointing 8-18 record and had no wins in eight ACC contests.
But with a win over 17th-ranked Florida State Sunday, Duke gained its first conference victory. The ACC loss was the Seminoles’ first of the season and knocked them out of first place in the conference.
“We were definitely down mentally and kind of licking our wounds, so to speak,” Duke head coach Bill Hillier said. “Knocking off a team like Florida State definitely picks you up mentally and makes it more enjoyable to come to the park.”
When Duke (9-19) takes on UNC-Wilmington (16-11) at 7 p.m. tonight at Jack Coombs Field, the Blue Devils hope they can gain some momentum from their biggest win of the year.
Duke faces a tough Seahawks squad that comes to Durham fresh off a three-game sweep of William & Mary. Last year’s team advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship after capturing UNC-W’s first ever Colonial Athletic Association title. Currently in first place in the CAA, the Seahawks remain the favorite to repeat as conference champions.
“UNC-Wilmington is always very solid, they’re normally an NCAA Regional team,” Hillier said. “It’s going to be a good matchup for us.”
The Seahawks’ starting pitching has been strong this season, as two of the three hurlers sport ERAs under 2.50 and none has a losing record.
The Blue Devils will send ace Greg Burke (4-3, 5.71 ERA), the only Blue Devil starter above .500, to the mound today. Burke has been the most consistent pitcher on a staff that has a 5.78 ERA after being knocked around by ACC powerhouses Georgia Tech, Miami and Florida State.
Hillier, who has not been pleased with his bullpen’s recent performance, has altered his rotation by relying more heavily on Burke than he did in the first half of the season.
“We’ve kind of switched things up with Burke in the last week and decided we’re going to pitch him whenever he’s available,” Hillier said. “With Burke on the hill we’ll probably be in the ball game, he always gives us a chance to win when he goes out there.”
Freshman Brett Bartles continues to lead the Blue Devil offense despite seeing his batting average drop from nearly .500 in the early part of the season to .385, a result of the stiffer ACC competition.
With the exception of Bartles, the Blue Devil offense has been stagnant throughout the team’s recent stretch of conference games, as ACC opponents are out-hitting Duke .357 to .251.
Despite these troubles, Sunday’s win over Florida State gave the Blue Devils their first true taste of success, and they are hungry for more.
“We want to build on our last win,” Burke said. “ACCs are heating up.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.