Duke baseball looks to end 7-game losing skid against Davidson

The weekend didn’t go very well for the Blue Devils, but with baseball, there’s always another chance to get back on the right track.

After being swept by an ACC opponent on the road for the second straight weekend, Duke returns home Tuesday to host Davidson at 6 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils dropped a pair of one-run contests to No. 12 Miami Friday and Saturday before suffering a 10-0 bludgeoning in the series finale Sunday.

The trio of losses against the Hurricanes extended Duke’s losing streak to seven games and dropped the squad to last place in the ACC Coastal Division. The Blue Devils (19-13, 4-11) can’t improve their ACC record in Tuesday’s nonconference tilt, but they can break their slide and get back to their winning ways heading into a weekend series with No. 7 Louisville.

Duke is still reeling from the recent losses of two of its top hurlers—ace Michael Matuella and lefty reliever Nick Hendrix. With the pitching staff at less than full strength, head coach Chris Pollard was forced to go to his bullpen often against the Hurricanes. Relievers threw the entire game Friday and had to chip in six innings Sunday after starter Bailey Clark was knocked out just two frames into the game.

Eight different hurlers came out of the pen to throw against Miami, but none logged more than 3.1 innings in total. Pollard used six different relievers to piece together Sunday’s blowout—all of whom stayed under 30 pitches—meaning that most, if not all, of his bullpen should be fresh and ready to go against the Wildcats (14-12).

Regardless of who is on the mound, the offense will need to step up for the Blue Devils and shake off its recent struggles. During the team’s seven-game skid, Duke has plated three or fewer runs five times—including a goose egg Sunday against Hurricane starter Enrique Sosa in which the Blue Devils mustered just three hits.

Duke ranks 12th in the ACC in runs scored and posts a team batting average of .258—which is 20 points below the conference average. With a young squad and a lineup featuring several freshmen getting their first tastes of ACC baseball, certain bumps in the road were to be expected. Freshman Peter Zyla has worked his way into the starting lineup and ranks third on the team with a .309 batting average, but most of the team’s offensive production has come from upperclassmen.

The lineup should be able to string some hits together against a Davidson pitching staff that has allowed opponents to hit .294 on the season. However, the Wildcats have some talented arms in the bullpen who are likely to see action against the Blue Devils. Junior Matt Saeta has posted a perfect 5-0 record with a 0.90 ERA in 20 innings out of the pen this season, but his 16 walks issued indicate Duke will want to be patient and wait out the 6-foot-4 right-hander. Ryan Lowe is the other standout hurler for the Wildcats, with a 1.52 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched both out of the bullpen and as a starter.