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Courtesy: Duke Photography
Sophomore closer Michael Seander has picked up a win in each of his two appearances this season. Seander closed out a 9-3 victory over the Tar Heels as a freshman last season.
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DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke baseball team will open its 30-game ACC schedule this weekend, as No. 5 North Carolina visits Jack Coombs Field for a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 7 at 3 p.m.
Duke (11-0) brings an 11-game winning streak into the weekend’s matchup, highlighted by a ninth-inning comeback against Valparaiso on Wednesday. Gabriel Saade drove in the winning runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with his third hit of the game to lead Duke to a 5-4 win over the Crusaders. The walk-off knock was the second of the season for Saade, who also guided Duke to a ninth-inning triumph in a 2-1 win over Columbia last weekend.
Eleven of Saade’s 16 hits have gone for extra bases, including two triples and two home runs. The sophomore second baseman is batting .340 with 15 runs scored and 10 RBI from the leadoff spot and leads the team with a .702 slugging percentage.
The Blue Devils are batting .338 as a team with 105 runs, compared to just 23 scored by their opponents. Seven of Duke’s nine starters are batting over .300, with Alex Hassan (.465), Matt Williams (.414) and Jeremy Gould (.412) all sitting above the .400 mark. Hassan leads the club with 20 hits and 17 runs scored and has reached base safely in 28 of his 45 plate appearances (.528 on base percentage). The sophomore center fielder brings an 11-game hitting streak into Friday’s matchup, with multiple knocks in a team-high six of those outings.
Williams has also shown consistency at the plate with two or more hits in five of his eight games started. The junior catcher currently boasts a .500 on base percentage from the No. 2 spot in the lineup while scoring six runs and driving in five.
Gould has also been red hot to start the season and is currently on a seven-game hitting streak. With 13 RBI on the season, Gould is slugging .588 with three doubles and a home run while reaching base in 22 of his 35 plate appearances (.512 on base percentage). The 6-3, 200 pound outfielder has started in left field in 10 of Duke’s 11 games and is currently batting .615 with runners in scoring position.
Junior first baseman Nate Freiman boasts the strongest bat in the Blue Devil lineup, as the 6-8, 240 pound first baseman has mashed a team-high three home runs on the season. Freiman own the team lead in RBI with 14 and has also crossed the plate 14 times as well. Hassan, Saade and Freiman rank atop the ACC’s top run scorers, as the trio occupies the top three spots on the list.
Six of Duke eight position starters have yet to commit an error on the field. Duke owns a .988 fielding percentage with just five errors in 430 opportunities for the best clip in the league. Saade (2B), Hassan (CF), Williams (C), Gould (LF), Ryan McCurdy (3B) and Tim Sherlock (RF) have all gone without an error so far at their respective positions.
The Blue Devil offense has given their pitching staff comfortable leads to protect in nearly every game thus far, as Duke has scored eight or more runs in eight of 11 games. Meanwhile, Duke’s pitchers have given up no more than three runs in nine outings while holding opposing teams to a .204 batting average. Duke will send junior Andrew Wolcott (1-0, 1.64 ERA), sophomore Will Currier (2-0, 0.75 ERA) and freshman Grant Monroe (2-0, 1.80 ERA) to the mound against the Tar Heels after the trio has started the first three games of both weekend series this season.
Wolcott has exited with a lead in both of his starts, including a six-inning shutout last time out against Columbia. Wolcott scattered just three hits in the game and retired 12 straight in the middle innings. The 6-6, 240 pound junior right hander will look to set the tone for the weekend series against the Tar Heels, as he will throw the first pitch on Friday.
Currier has been flat out unhittable in his first two starts, as the Dripping Springs, Texas, native owns a 0.75 ERA through 12.0 innings while holding batters to a .119 average. He has given up just five hits while striking out seven on the way to 2-0 record to start the season. Used primarily as a reliever last season, Currier went 4-0 with a 3.51 ERA as a freshman while allowing just three of his 19 inherited runners to score.
Monroe took no time to adjust to the college game as the 6-4, 200 pound freshman right hander has already racked up a pair of victories in his first two starts along with a 1.80 ERA. Monroe went five full innings in each of his first two outings and has held opposing hitters to a .176 average with runners on base. Monroe is expected to close out the series finale by taking the mound on Sunday.
Scouting North Carolina
North Carolina brings an 8-1 record into the weekend series with its only loss coming in extra innings at the hands of Old Dominion. The Tar Heels have already mashed 15 home runs this season with Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager, Seth Williams and Tim Fedroff contributing three apiece. Both Ackley and Fedroff appeared on the All-ACC team last season, while Ackley earned a first team selection and ACC Freshman Of The Year accolades.
Ackley leads the squad with a .500 batting average (19-for-38), while Seager is batting .382 (13-for-34). Seager’s 15 RBI is tops on the team, while Ackley and Williams have each driven in 10.
While North Carolina’s offense is intimidating, its pitching staff is even scarier. Led by sophomore starter Alex White (2-0, 0.00 ERA), the Tar Heel staff has a combined ERA of 2.74 with an opposing batting average of .239. White has not given up an earned run in 11.1 innings and will look to continue that streak as he takes the ball Friday afternoon against Duke.
Junior right hander Adam Warren (1-0, 12.15 ERA) will go Saturday for North Carolina while trying to build up from his first start back on Feb. 23 in which he gave up eight earned over 1.1 innings. Warren has since turned in a five-inning, one-run outing against Winthrop in which he scattered six hits and a walk to earn the win.
North Carolina’s starter for Sunday’s game has yet to be announced.
The Series With The Tar Heels
Duke and North Carolina have met 259 times on the diamond with the Tar heels holding a 168-88-3 advantage since the series began in 1891. Duke’s last victory came in 2007 when senior Tony Bajoczky held the Tar Heels to three runs on six hits over eight innings in a 9-3 Blue Devil win. Duke last took a series from North Carolina in 2004, winning two of three at home.
On Deck For Duke
Following the North Carolina series, Duke will welcome Quinnipiac and Richmond to Durham for a pair of mid-week contests. The Blue Devils will take on Quinnipiac at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11 and Richmond at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12. Virginia will then travel to Durham for a three-game series on March 14-16.
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