This weekend could not have been much worse for Duke in every phase of the game.
No. 11 North Carolina completed a convincing sweep of the Blue Devils with an 8-2 thrashing Sunday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park after running away with 11-2 and 12-2 wins Friday and Saturday. The Tar Heels scored three runs in the top of the first inning for the second straight day, and Duke could not capitalize on several opportunities to get back into the game before North Carolina extended its lead.
“They got timely hits and we didn’t. They didn’t put that many more runners on base than we did,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “We had plenty of opportunities to have our own clutch hits and we just didn’t get it, and we’ve got to continue to work at that.”
Tar Heel sophomore Brian Miller lined a single into center field to lead off the contest and stole second after Adam Pate lined out. Freshman Kyle Datres hit a routine grounder to third baseman Max Miller, but first baseman Jack Labosky could not corral a low throw as the ball skipped by him and into the stands.
Datres advanced to second on the play and Brian Miller scored to give North Carolina (17-2, 5-1 in the ACC) the early lead, but the damage was not done yet. A four-pitch walk to junior slugger Tyler Ramirez brought Logan Warmoth to the plate with two outs, and he drilled a triple to deep right field to clear the bases. Warmoth also roped a two-run single in the seventh to lead the Tar Heels with four RBIs.
“It wasn’t like they banged it all around the ballpark, but they did a good job of being clutch,” Pollard said. “Credit North Carolina, they’re playing very well right now. They’re playing with a lot of confidence. They’re playing very aggressive baseball.”
All three runs in the first frame and 11 of North Carolina’s 31 runs during the series were unearned, as Duke’s defense became a liability after starting the season strong. The Blue Devils (10-10, 1-5) only had 11 errors in 17 games entering the weekend, but nearly matched that mark with nine miscues in just three games against North Carolina.
The Tar Heels extended the lead in the third frame after an errant pitch from Duke hurler Brian McAfee hit Datres and Ramirez belted the first pitch he saw into the right field bleachers for a two-run home run. Ramirez was 2-for-2 with three walks and three RBIs from the cleanup spot in the order.
McAfee surrendered two walks along with the hit batter in six innings of work, but had better command than the rest of the Blue Devils’ pitching staff a day after it walked 12 batters.
“I thought [McAfee’s] stuff was fine. It was in the zone,” Pollard said. “The two walks—one of them was kind of an unintentional intentional where we pitched around Ramirez to set up a force play, but [McAfee] pitched fine and deserved a better fate than that.”
To make matters worse, graduate student and staff ace Trent Swart exited his start Saturday after allowing three runs in just one inning, and his status moving forward is uncertain. The Carlsbad, Calif., native missed the entire 2015 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Offensively, Duke failed to capitalize on four opportunities with runners in scoring position in the first eight innings before breaking through in the ninth. Junior Cris Perez lined one high off the Blue Monster to lead off the second frame but could only reach first base on a long single, and the inning ended harmlessly with runners on first and second when sophomore Evan Dougherty fouled out to first.
Perez came to plate in his next two at-bats with runners on second and third and two outs, but flied out to center field in the third inning and could not catch up to a two-strike fastball with two on in the fifth as sophomore Jason Morgan escaped both jams during seven innings of scoreless work.
“I was very impressed with the transformation of their arms in a year’s time,” Pollard said. “[North Carolina] had a lot of young arms this time last year, and they’ve done a good job of developing them to this point in the season.”
The Blue Devils’ only runs came with one out in the final frame after freshman pinch-hitter Kennie Taylor doubled down the third-base line for the first hit of his career to advance Griffin Conine to third. Both runners scored on a groundout by Jalen Phillips and a throwing error by first baseman Zack Gahagan trying to retire Taylor at third base.
The Blue Devils will welcome East Carolina to the DBAP Tuesday at 6 p.m. to wrap up their 12-game homestand.
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