Duke hopes to keep streak alive against UNC

During March, you might expect a heated Duke-North Carolina matchup on the hardwood, but this weekend, the Tobacco Road rivalry moves to the baseball diamond. Playing its second straight series on the road, Duke (15-8, 2-4 ACC) will take on No. 13 North Carolina (20-3, 4-2 ACC) in a three-game series at Boshamer Stadium Friday through Sunday.

With the Tar Heels’ national ranking and marked pitching advantage, the series seems one-sided in favor of the Tar Heels. But recent history tells a different story—the Blue Devils have won their series against North Carolina each of the past two seasons. Duke head coach Sean McNally cited the programs’ standards of excellence as a motivating factor in competition.

“The competition extends to both schools,” McNally said. “We appreciate the rivalry and respect their strong program.”

McNally added that although the rivalry is surrounded with hype, his team remains focused on its own performance. The Blue Devils will need to regain focus after suffering three losses to Clemson in last weekend’s series. Duke will count on outfielder Will Piwnica-Worms, who always puts up strong performances against the Tar Heels—the junior has hit .387 with eight RBI against them over the past three years, and he smacked his first career home run in Chapel Hill in 2009.

“We go in knowing we have to be at our best,” Piwnica-Worms said. “A big part of the preparation has been getting rested up. We need to make sure we have our legs under us.”

North Carolina is coming off a six-game winning streak where they have proved to be an offensive powerhouse, outscoring their opponents 51-18.

With a very young team, the Blue Devils will focus on staying positive while playing against the stiffest competition of their young season. Sophomore Jeff Kremer and junior Joe Pedevillano will look to provide offensive leadership. Kremer leads the team with a .364 batting average and a .448 on-base percentage in ACC games. Pedevillano joins Piwnica-Worms as a Tar Heel-killer, batting .500 in five games.

Duke will have to put up strong performances on the mound if they hope to match up with the Tar Heels’ formidable starting rotation. The Blue Devils will face North Carolina’s Patrick Johnson (4-0, 1.67 ERA), Kent Emanuel (3-1, 1.84 ERA) and Chris Munnelly (2-1, 5.30 ERA). For Duke, righty Dennis O’Grady (4-0, 3.54 ERA) will look to repeat his strong performance of the 2010 series, when he held the opposition to three runs over six innings. He’ll be followed by Dillon Haviland (1-1, 1.06 ERA), making his first career weekend start, and Marcus Stroman (1-1, 3.38 ERA).