It’s been more than 15 years since their last meeting, but the Blue Devils hope that history will repeat itself as they take on Norfolk State.
The Blue Devils haven’t faced the Spartans—a member of the MEAC—since the 1998 season, but they own an undefeated record in five contests against Norfolk State and will look to push that win total to six when the teams face off at Jack Coombs Field Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
On the mound for Duke (4-3) will be senior Drew van Orden. The right-hander will look to rebound after being roughed up in his only start of the season thus far. Against UNC-Greensboro, van Orden yielded five earned runs in just 3.1 innings in an eventual 9-8 loss. He will be facing a Spartan lineup that has been struggling at the plate, hitting just .200 with only six extra-base hits as a team.
“I think Drew will make the adjustments this week,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “One of the big keys for Drew is—when he’s in a starter’s role—establishing all four pitches, not falling back on the cutter as a crutch. He needs to really work to establish the breaking ball and the changeup to make him a complete, four-pitch guy. When he does that, he’s as good as anybody on our club and can shut down anybody that he pitches against.”
Freshman southpaw Devin Hemmerich will receive the starting nod for Norfolk State (1-5) in the first start of his career. Hemmerich has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen so far this season, and has yet to give up an earned run in seven innings of work. He appeared in both of the Spartans’ games this past weekend, combining for three shutout innings against Quinnipiac and Villanova.
The Blue Devils will look to take advantage of his recent workload, as well as the fact that his longest outing of the season was just three innings.
“We’ve got to [lengthen Hemmerich out],” Pollard said. “He had two relief outings over the weekend. So I think it’s important for us to stretch him out early—make him have a lot of at-bats where he has to throw a lot of pitches to get our guys out of the box and force his pitch count up and get into their bullpen.”
Hemmerich will be facing a dangerous Duke lineup that is averaging 5.57 runs per game this year. Redshirt junior outfielder Chris Marconcini has been red-hot lately, collecting 10 hits during the weekend to boost his average to .481. The cleanup hitter belted home runs against La Salle and Akron, both of which led to victories for the Blue Devils. Leadoff hitter Mike Rosenfeld and third baseman Jordan Betts are also in a groove at the plate and boast averages of .370 and .345, respectively, giving Duke threats up and down the lineup.
“We’ve got some guys that are really going well at the plate,” Pollard said. “Like most teams in the country, we’ve got some guys that need to get going at the plate, but that’s part of the early-season process.”
The Blue Devils are coming off a 2-1 weekend at the inaugural Duke Baseball Classic in which they posted victories against La Salle and Akron. Duke’s lone defeat came at the hands of Saint Louis—a one-run loss, as were its two other defeats this year. The pitching staff allowed a total of just six runs across the three games and has been a strength for Duke this season, posting a team ERA of 2.19 through the first seven games.
Although the season is young and ACC play has yet to begin, Pollard is pleased with what he has seen from his squad so far.
“Overall, I like what we’ve done to this point,” Pollard said. “Obviously, we’ve dropped three close games and you don’t love that, but our guys are competing very well. With the things that we’re doing well and the way we’re competing, I feel very good about where we’re at.”
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