Duke baseball seeks different results with change of scenery as Blue Devils head to Wake Forest

Duke stumbled to the finish line of a 12-game homestand Tuesday, and the Blue Devils are hopeful that a change of scenery this weekend can turn their recent struggles around.

After dropping four straight games against in-state opponents—and allowing at least eight runs in each of those contests—Duke will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., for a three-game series against Wake Forest at Gene Hooks Field Friday through Sunday. The Blue Devils are still 0-2 in true road games this year, but are eager to get back on the road after dropping seven of their last nine games during the homestand at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

“Sometimes there can be some benefit to get on the road. It’s just you and your team—you get away from the distractions. It gives us a little bit of a change of scenery,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said after Tuesday’s loss to East Carolina. “Maybe getting on the road is just what we need right now to kind of get focused on each other and get some distractions out of the way.”

Duke (10-11, 1-5 in the ACC) will likely have to reshuffle its weekend rotation for the first time this season after injuries during the 2015 campaign forced Pollard to find three new weekend starters. Graduate student Trent Swart was pulled from his start last Saturday against then-No. 11 North Carolina after just one inning with an undisclosed injury, and graduate student Kellen Urbon will replace him on the hill Saturday if he cannot make his start.

Sophomore Ryan Day recorded two outs but surrendered two runs in his first appearance of the season on the mound, and southpaw Nick Hendrix—who had become a reliable closer and carried a 1.86 ERA into Tuesday’s game—allowed three more runs in the eighth inning to take the loss.

Five of the seven hurlers Duke trotted out to the mound gave up at least one run, but sophomore Jack Labosky shut East Carolina down for 2 1/3 innings for his fourth straight scoreless outing and doubled at the plate as the Blue Devils built their lead. The Clovis, Calif., native’s versatility as an infielder and a pitcher will be valuable this weekend for wherever the Blue Devils need to put him.

“Jack threw the ball well, I thought he competed great,” Pollard said. “It’s a good growing moment for Jack and he’s going to be a guy that we need to do that throughout the rest of the season."

Whoever is pitching for Duke will have a tall task in trying to shut down the Demon Deacon offense. Junior Will Craig was last season’s ACC Player of the Year and leads Wake Forest (14-9, 2-3) in all major categories, hitting .462 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs. Second baseman Nate Mondou was also a first-team All-ACC selection in 2015, but is hitting just .268 to start his junior season.

If the Blue Devils give up a lot of runs against a formidable lineup, they will have their chances to make up for it at the plate. Parker Dunshee, Drew Loepprich and Connor Johnstone make up the Demon Deacons’ weekend rotation, and Dunshee leads the trio with a 3.92 ERA. Wake Forest gives up 4.9 runs per game, the third-highest mark in the ACC.

Duke will need its veterans to spark its offense as they have for the last week to take advantage of the Demon Deacons’ pitching liabilities. Junior Cris Perez—the Blue Devils’ lone upperclassman in the regular lineup—has gone 10 for his last 17 to raise his batting average to .292, and redshirt junior Jalen Phillips added two hits Tuesday to begin to break out of an early-season slump.

“You really want your veteran guys to be guys having big years for you, because that’s a reassurance, that’s a calming presence for your younger guys, which we’ve got a bunch of in our lineup,” Pollard said. “It was good to see Jalen get it going [Tuesday]. I thought he played the game really aggressively, so that can be a really good sign of things to come.”