For the second consecutive week, Duke is coming off an upset of a highly-ranked team-only to have to face one of the top offensive teams in the country.
The Blue Devils (22-13) knocked off then-No. 1 Florida State March 31 behind a strong performance from starting pitcher Tony Bajoczky and a six-run second inning. Three days later, they traveled to Davidson to take on the Wildcats. In its highest-scoring affair of the season, Duke outslugged Davidson 17-12.
Bajoczky was back on the mound Saturday, this time guiding his team to a 13-9 upset of then-No. 3 Virginia.
And once again, the Blue Devils are confronted with a non-conference matchup against the Wildcats (15-19)-this time at Jack Coombs Field at 7 p.m. Duke will be searching for its 20th non-conference win of the season.
Davidson enters the game scoring 7.7 runs per game, including 10.9 in its wins. But the Wildcats have scored just five in their last two outings-both losses to Western Carolina.
"That's the crazy thing-you never know how a game is going to turn out," head coach Sean McNally said. "We know that Davidson's got a terrific offense. We feel good about our offense, and. at the end of the day, we want to score more than they do."
The Blue Devils have reason to feel good about their offense.
They have shown signs of life in victories over the Wildcats and Cavaliers, totaling 30 runs on 36 hits in those two contests. In both games, Duke fought back from mid-game deficits to win.
Jimmy Gallagher has epitomized the Blue Devils' offensive turnaround. Gallagher hit .250 in the team's first nine ACC games. In its last four games, however, he has hit .450 with a home run, six RBIs and six runs scored.
Nate Freiman has also been a force at the plate, hitting .438 with a home run and five RBIs since the last Davidson game.
Just like last week, the contest against the Wildcats falls between two highly-anticipated ACC series. A three-game set at third-ranked North Carolina looms this weekend.
"It's a rare opportunity to play the one, two and three teams in the country in three successive weekends," McNally said. "To have success against both Florida State and Virginia certainly is encouraging, and I think our guys will be ready to play North Carolina. We'll go one day at a time-we'll look at Davidson [tonight] first."
For the pitching matchup tonight, Duke's Will Currier (3-0, 3.63 ERA) will take the mound against Matt Knight (2-5, 8.15 ERA).
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.