Snow and freezing weather forced students out of classrooms Tuesday and the Blue Devils off the field Friday, but the second annual Duke Baseball Classic will go on with an adjusted format.
The Duke Baseball Classic was originally scheduled to kick off Friday at 3 p.m. with the hosts facing off against Hartford, but Duke was forced to postpone the beginning of its tournament due to temperatures that reached single digits in the early hours of Thursday and Friday morning.
Instead, the Blue Devils open the action against the Hawks at Jack Coombs Field Saturday at 3 p.m. before finishing off their day with a contest against Delaware State scheduled to start at approximately 7 p.m. Duke will finish off the weekend against Iona Sunday at 6 p.m., also at Jack Coombs Field.
“We talk a lot about not worrying about things that are out of our control,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “We’re trying to stay focused on the things that we can control, but I don’t know anyone who likes this kind of weather—except maybe polar bears.”
The Blue Devils will be without junior ace Michael Matuella this weekend. The No. 2 prospect in the 2015 MLB draft experienced some tightness in his right forearm earlier in the week and the coaching staff is erring on the caution, Pollard said.
Matuella had a successful first outing Feb. 13 against California, allowing just four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in six scoreless innings of work.
In his place, senior Andrew Istler will start the first game of the tournament against Hartford (0-0). The Wellington, Fla., native had a decent start to the season Feb. 14 against the Golden Bears, surrendering eight hits, a walk and two earned runs in 4.2 innings in a game the Blue Devils would go on to lose, 3-2.
The starter for the nightcap against the Hornets (0-4) is still to be determined, Pollard said, but Bailey Clark will resume his role in the back end of the rotation for the weekend finale against Iona (0-4). The sophomore threw well in his first career start, allowing seven hits and only two earned runs and adding five strikeouts in five innings of work.
Although last weekend brought a variety of pitchers to the mound, this weekend an even larger array of arms will see time on the bump for Duke (2-1), including freshmen southpaw Chris McGrath and Jack Labosky, who started all three games against California at third base.
“The M.O. for this weekend is to get guys reps,” Pollard said. “Last week [against California] was a good building experience. Now we’re trying to build depth in both pitching and our lineup, so we’ll use a lot of different combinations over the weekend.”
The lineup will also see some variety that it has not seen yet early in the season.
Pollard used a couple different lineups against California, including starting three freshmen in the field in the first and third games of the series and four in the second. With three games in two days, the third-year head coach will shake up the lineup even more as he looks to get his younger players some at bats and get his regulars some rest.
Freshman Peter Zyla is one player who may see his number called more often this weekend. The Alpharetta, Ga., native had just one at bat—a strikeout—against the Golden Bears. Sophomore Cris Perez—the cleanup hitter for Duke in each of its three games this season—will more than likely get a start behind the plate this weekend, giving co-captain Mike Rosenfeld some rest.
“We can’t be afraid to put the young guys in,” Pollard said. “We have to get the young guys some experience. We chose not to put in a few of the younger guys in last week because it’s tough getting your first experience on the road, especially the way Cal’s ballpark plays, but at home… now they’ll be more comfortable.”
If the Blue Devils want to find a way to sweep the tournament and get off to their best six-game start since the 2011 season, all of the young players who see their names penciled into the lineup will need to step up. And with Matuella out, the pitching staff will need to show off its depth if Duke wants to grab all three wins this weekend.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.