For those who know where to look for the signs, spring has arrived in Durham. To some, it looks like the students populating the seats outside of the Bryan Center on sunny afternoons. Others see the warm weather manifesting through the first flowers poking their buds through the dirt in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.
The 746 fans who attended Duke baseball’s home opener were welcomed in the new season by the ping of the bat and the pop of the catcher’s mitt. However, the Blue Devils did not start the season quite the way they wanted, squandering a lead to eventually fall 8-3 against Cincinnati.
In the bottom of the first inning, the crowd populating the bleachers of Jack Coombs Field got its first taste of Duke’s potential. The blue-clad crowd broke into a polite smattering of applause as standout third baseman Ben Miller climbed to the right-handed batter’s box for his first plate appearance of the season, facing Cincinnati's Kellen O’Connor.
The Durham native worked the count full, fouling off a couple of offerings on the way. As O’Connor wound and dealt his 13th pitch of the young afternoon, Miller timed it up perfectly and rocketed one past the foul pole in left field, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Miller was the one who dealt the blow to O’Connor, but the whole lineup made him work, forcing him to throw 35 pitches in only 1.2 innings.
“I thought we had great at-bats early against O’Connor,” head coach Chris Pollard said. “Obviously, he was on a pitch count, because they got him out of there pretty early, but they were good at-bats.”
The power bats did their duty Friday afternoon, as designated hitter Andrew Yu and center fielder Tyler Albright joined Miller in the home run column. Both benefited from the new renovations to the Blue Devils’ home field, sending solo shots just beyond the outfield walls moved in this offseason.
Duke had plenty of other offensive opportunities; the team making hard contact throughout the game, but never delivered a significant blow.
“We had [relief pitcher Joel] Pinero on the ropes there right after he got in the ball game,” Pollard said. “We're probably a double in the gap away from getting him out of the ball game, but he made the pitch to get off the field there with the bases loaded, and then we let him settle in.”
Unfortunately for the Blue Devil faithful, the power hitters were the only things firing on all cylinders. Ace Kyle Johnson wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked to be, letting runners on base throughout the afternoon. In only four innings, the sophomore allowed five runs on 10 baserunners, only worsened by two errors of his own while fielding bunts, two walks and a hit by pitch.
“[Johnson pitched] better than the scoreboard would indicate,” Pollard said. “If we handle the two bunts, [it is] probably two runs instead of five runs. But at the same time, I think he'd probably tell you, the strike percentages have got to be a little bit better. We got to get to work in the mid-week pen and attack the zone a little better than we did early.”
The Leesburg, Va., native pitched himself into his first jam in the second inning, allowing three consecutive men on to start the frame. Johnson worked his way out of the inning only allowing one run; first with two quick outs via back-to-back pop flies to Jake Berger and then a strikeout of Landyn Vidourek with a high fastball.
The Duke faithful rejoiced as Johnson made his way back to the dugout, hoping that this early speed bump would be the toughest frame of the day. They were undoubtedly disappointed when the third was more of the same, and Johnson didn’t have the magic to wriggle out of another jam.
The three-run third, combined with a Kerrington Cross missile in the fourth spelled an early end to a disappointing first outing from Johnson and put the visitors ahead 5-2.
The Blue Devils weren’t able to string enough hits together throughout the rest of the contest, and while Reid Easterly kept them in the game with an outstanding three innings of relief work, the home team simply ran out of outs. The Bearcats brought home three against the Yale transfer in his fourth frame, the eighth, putting the game on ice at 8-3.
Despite the loss, Pollard was happy to get the season underway.
“Twenty-six years as a head coach and still nervous, still like a young guy, you know, the anticipation and the butterflies, and that's a lot of fun with it,” Pollard said.
The Blue Devils hope to bounce back and beat the Bearcats with two more games Saturday and Sunday, with Ryan Higgins and James Tallon taking the mound, respectively.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.