After dropping two of three games against Miami last weekend, the Blue Devils have now lost their last four conference series.
And with a little more than a than a third of the season remaining, Duke enters this weekend in desperate need of a series win as the window for a second consecutive NCAA tournament run continues to close.
The Blue Devils will be hoping for a spark to their postseason hopes when they host Boston College this weekend at Jack Coombs Field. The teams will battle Friday at 6 p.m. and then at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, with Duke searching for its first ACC series victory since it earned a pair of wins against Virginia Tech in early March.
“The reality is over the course of the ACC season to be where you want to be at the end of the season, you have to win series,” Blue Devil head coach Chris Pollard said. “The way you do that is by focusing on winning baseball games one game at a time.... You can’t get caught up being forward looking, you’ve got to stay in the moment and that means competing one game at a time.”
In order for Duke (18-17, 6-9 in the ACC) to come away victorious for a third consecutive contest after winning the series finale in Coral Gables, Fla., and defeating Campbell Wednesday, the Blue Devils will likely need to continue to ride the red-hot bat of sophomore Griffin Conine.
The Weston, Fla., native has emerged as a team leader amid what is becoming a breakout campaign. Conine is coming off a two-home-run, five-RBI performance against Campbell, and the sophomore enters this weekend’s series leading the team in runs, home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and hits.
“He’s having a terrific year and he’s obviously had a terrific stretch of late,” Pollard said. “The sky is the limit for Griffin in terms of the potential that he has for growth, and not only to be successful at this level, but to play the game at the highest level.”
As Conine and the Blue Devils have had success at the plate lately, Boston College (10-20, 1-14) has struggled getting on base and scoring runs for much of the season.
The Eagles are hitting just .235 as a team and severely lack in terms of power. Boston College has hit just five home runs this season, compared to 29 for Duke, and averages fewer than four runs per contest.
Defense and pitching are also not strengths for the Eagles, who surrender more than six runs per game.
Inconsistency across the board has led to their conference struggles—following a victory in the team’s first ACC tilt March 10, Boston College has lost its last 14 league matchups.
But the Eagles might have a chance to get on track against an unreliable Blue Devil pitching staff.
Junior Mitch Stallings will start Friday night for Duke. Stallings has done an excellent job in his last three ACC outings. The southpaw leads the Blue Devils with 41 strikeouts and has averaged more than a strikeout per inning so far this season.
Junior Ryan Day will get the start Sunday for Duke. Day leads the Blue Devils with a 2.11 ERA and has also displayed excellent control. Through 38.1 innings this season, the Phelan, Calif., native has walked just six batters.
“He’s been throwing the ball really well also,” Pollard said. “Now he’s finally in a position where he can extend out his pitch count and give a full start if he feels good and progresses well over the next couple of days.”
Pollard has not yet announced who will start Saturday. Freshman Adam Laskey has started in that spot recently, but has the second-highest ERA of any Blue Devil at 8.02 in 33.2 innings.
Following the series against Boston College, Duke will host N.C. Central Wednesday before going on the road for a three-game weekend series against No. 2 Louisville.
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Digital Strategy Director for Vol. 115, Michael was previously Sports Editor for Vol. 114 and Assistant Blue Zone Editor for Vol. 113. Michael is a senior majoring in Statistical Science and is interested in data analytics and using data to make insights.