Coming off their first three-game ACC sweep since 2014 last weekend against Notre Dame, the Blue Devils will go on the road looking for their fifth consecutive series win to start conference play.
No. 10 Duke will travel to Winston Salem, N.C., this weekend to take on Wake Forest in a three-game set at David F. Couch Ballpark. The teams will first take the field Friday at 6 p.m., followed by games Sunday and Monday with first pitches set for 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
The Blue Devils are hoping to extend their recent dominant stretch. Duke is sporting a 25-3 record since dropping two of three at Vanderbilt to start the season, yet head coach Chris Pollard still feels his team has plenty of room to grow and cannot remain content down the stretch.
“We always talk about trying to be the best versions of ourselves. We haven’t done that yet,” Pollard said. “We’re constantly competing against our own standard of excellence, and as we look at this team, there’s always room for growth and improvement. One thing we have to guard against is getting too comfortable, getting too enamored with people tapping us on the back and reading nice things about ourselves, and getting too caught up in the destination and not focusing on being in the here and now.”
Duke (26-5, 9-3 in the ACC) has ridden a recent offensive surge during its ongoing seven-game winning streak. The Blue Devils have scored at least six runs in six of their last seven games, including a total of 40 runs in their last three contests.
Wednesday at home against Campbell, the Blue Devils offense poured in 11 runs on 13 hits. After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Duke used consistent hitting to string together long innings at the plate, getting 13 hits off the bat of eight different Blue Devils. Duke scored twice in the bottom of the first and three times in the bottom of the third, using two-run doubles by freshman Joey Loperfido and junior Griffin Conine to take a 5-1 lead. The Blue Devils added six runs in the fifth inning to break the game open with an 11-1 advantage.
With the win against the Fighting Camels, it seems as though junior Griffin Conine is beginning to get over the hump. Entering the season as a top-20 draft prospect, the Weston, Fla., native has struggled, hitting just .229 on the season while striking out a team-high 36 times. Yet, after a solid two weeks and another big hit Wednesday, it seems as though Conine will be much more like his old self down the stretch.
“He’s played exceptionally well over the last two weeks,” Pollard said. “If you look at his at-bats over the last two weeks—going back to the Pitt series—he’s amongst our team leaders in average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. He hit two of the hardest-hit balls that we’ve hit all season last night, so he continues to get back into a good place offensively, as have some other guys.”
The Blue Devils will need Conine and the offense to stay hot against one of the conference’s best starting rotations from Wake Forest (12-18, 5-7). Colin Peluse—who Duke will face Friday—has been dominant in his seven starts this season, going 4-0 with an ERA of 2.91. The Blue Devils are also set to go up against strikeout machine Griffin Roberts, who has struck out 71 batters in a mere 48 innings pitched this season.
“They’ve got three really good weekend starters,” Pollard said. “Tomorrow night we’ve got a challenge ahead of us because we’re going to see one of the best Friday night starters not only in the ACC, but maybe in the country.”
Although the Demon Deacons’ rotation has been successful, their bullpen has been their Achilles’ heel this season. Seven out of their eight relievers with at least 10 innings pitched have ERAs north of 4.00, and four have ERAs worse than 7.00. If the Blue Devils can continue their recent stretch of big innings, they could have a chance to feast against a struggling pen.
Following this weekend’s series against Wake Forest, Duke will return home Tuesday for a midweek battle against Davidson before traveling south for a series against Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., next weekend.
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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.