Marcus Stroman continued his dominance on the mound, but the Blue Devil bats stayed silent as Clemson (18-14, 8-7 in the ACC) swept a three-game set at Jack Coombs Stadium.
In Friday’s opener, Stroman received just one run of support in a nine-inning, 13-strikeout performance on the mound, and Duke (13-20, 5-10) lost 4-1 in 11 innings. The junior leads the ACC with 85 total strikeouts, 19 more than his nearest competitor, and has allowed just two runs in his last 19.2 innings pitched.
The Blue Devil offense rallied for five runs Saturday afternoon, led by catcher Mike Rosenfeld, who went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Clemson, though, broke open a 6-5 game in the top of the ninth inning, scoring five runs off a trio of Duke relievers to secure an 11-5 win.
Blue Devil starting pitcher Robert Huber threw seven scoreless innings against the Tigers Sunday, staking Duke to a 2-0 lead. But reliever Andrew Istler allowed four in the eighth and the Blue Devils could not mount a comeback, falling 4-2.
Duke has now lost five of its last six conference games and is tied for last in the Coastal Division with Virginia Tech, a team it swept earlier in the season.
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