Sitting in 10th place in the ACC standings, Duke needs to play its best baseball yet to sneak into the ACC Tournament as the eighth seed.
But with only two more conference series remaining, the Blue Devils (25-23, 9-15 in the ACC) have their work cut out for them at No. 7 Virginia (39-8, 17-7). Duke travels to Charlottesville, Va. this weekend to take on the Cavaliers at Davenport Field.
“The Maryland series last weekend put us in the position to control our own destiny as far as the [postseason] goes, and we did not play very well like we needed to,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “[Virginia’s] got a very good club… I know we’re capable of doing well, but we’re going to have to play very well.”
Pollard switched up his usual rotation hoping to jumpstart his team’s success. Although sophomore left-hander Trent Swart and junior right-hander Robert Huber will once again take the mound on Friday and Sunday, respectively, right-hander Michael Matuella will make his first-career ACC start on Saturday. The freshman, who is second on the team with a 2.76 ERA, will replace a struggling Drew Van Orden. In his last six starts, the junior has given up 27 runs in 34.2 innings.
“We want to take advantage of the fact that [Matuella’s] throwing very well,” Pollard said. “It’s not so much an indictment of Van Orden as much as it is a credit to the job Matuella has done. We feel like he’s been growing and building to this point that he deserves the start.”
Pollard believes that success on the mound, starting with his new rotation, is the key to victory against the Cavaliers.
“We need quality starts, and if you look at the ACC series that we’ve won before, we’ve done it with pitching,” he said. “To be successful against a team like Virginia, we’re going to need our starters to go deep into the ball game and need… our bullpen to throw well.”
The Blue Devils, however, do not have history on their side. They have lost 11 of their last 12 series against Virginia, and have yet to take a series on the road against the Cavaliers. It does not help that the 2013 Virginia squad has a team batting average of .307 and a team ERA of 2.95, ranked third and fourth in the ACC, respectively.
To counter the Blue Devils’ pitching, the Cavalier offense boasts six starters with batting averages over .300. Sophomore right fielder Mike Papi leads all hitters with a .389 average, good for second in the conference. As a team, Virginia is second in the ACC in runs, RBIs and runs scored per game—as opposed to Duke, which ranks 10th in each of those categories.
On the mound, the Cavaliers’ most consistent player has been closer Kyle Crockett. The junior has only surrendered four runs in 38.2 innings, posting a 0.93 ERA with a team-leading 10 saves. Crockett was recently named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association watch list for the Stopper of the Year award, given to the nation’s best reliever.
“They pitch well,” Pollard said. “Crockett has been lights out for them out of the bullpen, and you make a case that he’s the best short relief guy in the country. At the same time their team on base percentage is [high], so they’re very good at [threatening] in similar fashion to No. 1 North Carolina.”
Despite the Cavaliers’ success on both sides of the ball, Pollard remains optimistic.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he said. “But if we play well, there’s no reason we can’t compete.”
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