Friday's series opener came down to opportunities. The Yellow Jackets took advantage of theirs, and the Blue Devils didn't.
Georgia Tech plated two runs in the sixth inning to erase a 2-0 deficit and added two more in the seventh, then held off a Duke rally in the ninth to capture a 5-2 victory Friday at Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils pushed across a pair of runs in the third inning for an early lead, but a series of defensive miscues left the door open for the visitors, and Georgia Tech pounced.
"They deserved to win the ball game because they played better than we did. They made fewer mistakes, they did a better job in the run game, they did a better job in the bunt game and they did a better job swinging the bat with two strikes," Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. "We've got to learn from some of the things that we did out there today in terms of controlling the running game and executing a little better with two strikes."
For the fourth straight game, the Blue Devils (13-4, 1-3 in the ACC) struck first. Shortstop Kenny Koplove led off with a double inside the third base bag and didn't remain on the basepaths long, as leadoff man Andy Perez singled him home for an early 1-0 lead. It was the second of three hits on the day for Perez, who led off the bottom of the first and later doubled in the fifth.
"I was just going up there with an aggressive mindset," Perez said. "Our team, we're best when we're aggressive and that's one thing Coach preaches, so just getting up there and hunting fastballs and getting good counts."
Left fielder Jalen Phillips followed with Duke's third straight hit against Georgia Tech starter Jonathan King, singling to center to put runners at the corners with no outs. Freshman Evan Dougherty plated Perez with a sacrifice fly and Cris Perez followed with a single, keeping the threat of a big inning alive. Blue Devil catcher Mike Rosenfeld hit a ground ball down the third-base line, but third baseman Brandon Gold made a diving stop to start an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play and limit the damage.
Duke got the leadoff man on in five innings, but couldn't break through again against King and reliever Matthew Gorst. Gorst entered in the sixth and collected four of his seven outs via the punchout, getting swings and misses with a sinking fastball and a well-located slider down and away.
The Blue Devils struck out 11 times Friday, the ninth time in 17 contests they have fanned 10 or more times in a game.
Right-hander Michael Matuella threw four scoreless innings as he continues to work his way back from arm stiffness. The Great Falls, Va., native threw 63 pitches—three more than his scheduled pitch count—and ended the first three frames with called strike threes.
Pollard said that Matuella felt good following the outing and could have kept throwing. All signs point to the junior being given a longer leash when he takes the ball next weekend.
Reliever Conner Stevens ran into trouble in the sixth, surrendering back-to-back hits to the Yellow Jackets (13-4, 3-1) and allowing them to move up a base on a wild pitch. Pollard brought in senior Sarkis Ohanian, who induced an RBI groundout but then fired one to the backstop, allowing the tying run to score.
Georgia Tech wasn't done, putting another crooked number on the scoreboard in the seventh. Nick Hendrix took over for Ohanian with one out but mishandled a bunt attempt by Wade Bailey. Representing the go-ahead run, the second baseman stole second to get into scoring position. With two outs, Koplove charged a looping line drive by catcher Arden Pabst, but the ball eluded his glove on what would have been a shoestring catch and trickled into the outfield. Bailey raced around to give Georgia Tech the lead on the error. Pabst later came around to score on a single to extend the advantage.
"We don't address physical mistakes because they're random and they happen. We just move on from that," Pollard said. "It's not something that you necessarily control. Those have been few and far between. We've played very good defense, so we're certainly not going to dwell on that."
The Yellow Jackets got an insurance run in the eighth, but Duke would not go quietly in the ninth. Pinch-hitter Grant McCabe drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second on a pinch-hit single by Michael Smiciklas, setting the Blue Devils up with two on and no out as the lineup turned over.
After a long Perez flyout, Phillips lined a shot that seemed destined for center field, but instead hit the inside leg of Yellow Jacket pitcher Zac Ryan. The reliever shook off the impact and funneled the ball to first to retire Phillips, preventing a likely run. Ryan then struck out Dougherty swinging to end the game.
"I thought we competed good in the box in the third and the ninth," Pollard said. "I think if we take the mentality that we had in the ninth and compete that way every inning, we're going to put more runs on the board."
The Blue Devils picked up 11 hits but had just the two runs to show for them and will look to string them together in the rest of the series, which continues Saturday at 3 p.m.
"In certain situations today we didn't execute situationally, and we've been good so far doing that but today it was one of those days—it's baseball," Perez said. "Luckily we can come out tomorrow and hopefully execute in those situations."
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