On a windy day at Jack Coombs Field, early opportunities blew away from the Blue Devils, as did the possibility of a series victory.
After taking the first game of the weekend series behind a strong pitching performance from junior Chris Manno Saturday, Duke (17-9, 6-6 in the ACC) dropped both games of the Sunday doubleheader to Wake Forest (13-11, 3-9), losing the series and dropping back to .500 in conference play. Duke won the first game 3-1 before losing the second two, 4-2 and 12-8.
Senior Nate Freiman hit three home runs in the nightcap Sunday, but his 4-for-4, 5-RBIs performance couldn't lift the Blue Devils to their second straight series win.
On Sunday, the Blue Devils fumbled early chances. In the first game, Duke loaded the bases in the first inning with no outs, but followed with back-to-back infield flies. Luckily for the Blue Devils, Wake Forest starting pitcher Phil Negus dropped the second ball, and junior Alex Hassan hustled home from third to give Duke the early lead.
Negus, though, recovered from that rough first inning to shut down Duke, leading the Demon Deacons to a 4-2 victory. Negus entered the game with a 7.06 ERA, but after escaping the first inning with minimal damage, Negus only allowed three more hits to the Blue Devils in his seven innings of work and did not allow an earned run.
"It's one of those things where we had him on the ropes early," Duke head coach Sean McNally said. "We had the bases loaded both in the first and the third, a great opportunity to take advantage right there, and I thought he gained confidence as he went along-his breaking ball sharpened up and we just weren't able to adjust."
Meanwhile, Negus' counterpart, Duke starter Andrew Wolcott, never got into a rhythm. Wolcott allowed two hits in each of his five innings of work, escaping his first two innings unscathed before allowing a run in the third and two more in the fourth.
The deficit could have been worse, however, if not for Duke's stellar defense. Freshman Will Piwnica-Worms made a highlight-reel catch in center field to minimize the damage in the third inning, and sophomore shortstop Jake Lemmerman played solid defense throughout to keep the Blue Devils close.
Duke's offense was unable to do its part to get back into the game. The Blue Devils' first four hitters went a combined 3-for-17. The lone bright spot for the offense was Lemmerman, who hit a mammoth home run to dead center field to bring Duke within two runs in the eighth inning. Duke was able to get the tying runs in scoring position that inning, but third baseman Ryan McCurdy struck out to end the rally.
"He was a bright spot definitely in game one," McNally said of Lemmerman. "Really solid defensively. He's a sophomore getting better and better and really solid at shortstop. And offensively, it was nice to see him get the head of the bat out."
Although the rest of the Blue Devil offense rebounded in the final game of the series Sunday night, Duke struggled to match the output of Wake Forest once again. The Blue Devils jumped out of the gate, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. The surge wasn't enough, though, as the Demon Deacons dominated the middle innings, outscoring Duke 9-2 in the fourth through sixth innings.
Freiman was able to turn around his hitting with his three shots, but the Blue Devil pitching staff continued to struggle to contain the Wake Forest offense, giving up 24 hits over the two games, including three homers.
"Our pitching and defense have always been rock solid," McNally said. "It's kind of what we do really well, and the reality is Andrew wasn't as sharp as he has been, but he was still good enough to win.... Four runs in that case had to be enough to win and we just didn't score. Then in game two Wake got some big hits. Solo home runs don't beat you, but three-run home runs and two-run home runs-those will get you."
Scott Rich contributed reporting.
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