Riding the momentum of perhaps their biggest win of the season, the Blue Devils will look to keep the ball rolling in a midweek reprieve from conference play.
Following a thrilling 7-6 victory Sunday against Pittsburgh highlighted by captain Andy Perez’s walk-off single, Duke travels to Lynchburg, Va., to take on Liberty Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Liberty Baseball Stadium. Sunday’s come-from-behind win—which head coach Chris Pollard characterized after as “our best win of the year to this point”—gave the Blue Devils a key ACC series victory and moved them to 4-5 in conference play.
Duke (18-6) is coming off a week in which it played five home games at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, moving away from the cavernous confines of Jack Coombs Stadium. The switch did wonders for the Blue Devils, who compiled a 4-1 record at the DBAP last week and scored an average of more than eight runs per game in their four victories.
“This was a really rewarding week for our program,” Pollard said. “To go 4-1 and to be down here at the DBAP and to play really good baseball—culminating with a great walk-off win on Andy’s clutch hit yesterday—this was a really good week for our program in so many different ways, and it’s exciting.”
The change of scenery was especially beneficial for Perez, who torched opposing pitchers at the DBAP with a 12-for-23 performance at the plate that included six runs, six RBIs and a pair of homers. The second baseman provided the game-winning hit in both of Duke’s victories against Pittsburgh—a three-run dinger in the seventh inning of Friday’s tilt as well as Sunday’s ninth-inning walk-off heroics—and now leads the squad with a .351 batting average and .515 slugging percentage.
Despite Perez’s senior status and decorated career, he said Sunday’s walk-off was the first of his career at any level. Pollard noted how well-deserved the Roswell, Ga., native’s success has been, but even Perez doesn’t have an explanation for his hot hitting at the DBAP.
“Honestly, I’ve been thinking of an answer, and I really don’t have one,” Perez said. “Maybe it’s just when I get down there, I get in a better mood—the backdrop is really nice. I can’t really come up with an answer, but I just know when I get in the batter’s box there, my confidence is at an all-time high, and as a hitter, that’s pretty much all hitting is.”
Tuesday’s nonconference meeting with the Flames will be an unusual one in the sense that Duke and Liberty (14-8) have already squared off once this season. The Blue Devils pulled out a 3-2 win March 3 thanks to a stellar performance from their bullpen, with eight pitchers combining on a three-hitter to earn the victory.
Since that game at Jack Coombs Stadium a few weeks ago, the Flames have taken off—compiling seven straight victories at one point and going 8-3 overall since the first meeting. The strength of this Liberty squad lies with its offense, which scores 5.6 runs per game and has not been shutout yet this season through 22 contests.
The Flame lineup is anchored by a quartet of sluggers—Andrew Yacyk, Alex Close, Dalton Britt and Becker Sankey—who are all batting better than .300 with plenty of power to go with every hit. Together, they have combined to blast nine homers—three more than the entire Duke squad—and have all recorded at least six extra-base hits.
Navigating the dangerous Liberty batting order will be a stiff challenge for a Blue Devil pitching staff that turned in an outstanding effort Sunday—led by senior Sarkis Ohanian’s impressive 4.2-inning, nine-strikeout outing as the Duke offense mounted a comeback—but may be without its primary receiver behind the dish.
Redshirt senior catcher Mike Rosenfeld—the Blue Devils’ second captain along with Perez—suffered a hand injury in Friday night’s game as he was hit by an opposing batter’s swing while getting in position to throw out a potential base stealer. Rosenfeld exited the game after completing the half-inning on defense and did not play in either of the series’ final two games, but Pollard is hopeful that a few days of rest will have his fiery backstop ready to go Tuesday.
Sophomore Cris Perez has handled the catching duties in Rosenfeld’s absence, switching away from his normal position of designated hitter. But even if Rosenfeld cannot make his presence felt on the field, the leadership he and Andy Perez provide as captains is invaluable to the team as it begins a stretch of seven road games in the next two weeks—beginning with a journey to Pollard’s home state of Virginia.
“Liberty is a tough place to play. They have a nice facility, and they draw [crowds] well. They draw very very well when it’s an ACC opponent,” Pollard said. “So they get up for those kind of games. It can be a tough park to pitch in—it’s a very offense-friendly ballpark…. I think this is all part of the maturation process for a young team, and that’s why it’s huge to have veteran guys like Andy Perez and Mike Rosenfeld who have been through those kinds of settings.”
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