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Baseball Game Notes: Duke vs. Clemson (April 9-11)
4/8/2010 12:00:00 PM | Baseball
Duke Baseball Game Notes
Duke (17-12, 3-9 ACC) vs. No. 11 Clemson (22-8, 9-3 ACC)
April 9-11, 2010
Durham, N.C. (Durham Bulls Athletic Park)
Friday, April 9 (6 p.m.)
Duke Starter: Christopher Manno, LHP (1-1, 3.16 ERA)
Clemson Starter: Casey Harman, LHP (5-0, 2.14 ERA)
Saturday, April 10 (2 p.m.)
Duke Starter: Dennis O'Grady, RHP (0-2, 4.26 ERA)
Clemson Starter: Scott Weismann, RHP (3-1, 3.57 ERA)
Sunday, April 11 (1 p.m.)
Duke Starter: TBA
Clemson Starter: Will Lamp, LHP (3-1, 3.60 ERA)
Duke Storylines
Contact Hitters
- Duke currently has the fewest strikeouts in the ACC after posting the lowest strikeout rate in the conference in 2008 and 2009.
- The Blue Devils have whiffed just 157 times in 29 games for an ACC-low average of 5.59 Ks per game.
- In 2009, Duke whiffed just 304 times for an ACC-low average of 5.60 Ks per game.
- Senior Ryan McCurdy is one of the best contact hitters in the ACC, having struck out just 38 times in 689 career plate appearances for an ACC-leading average of 17.68 plate appearances between strikeouts.
- Will Piwnica-Worms strikes out every 14.78 trips to the plate while Dennis O'Grady has whiffed once every 10.11 appearances.
Last Time Against Clemson
- The Tigers won two of three games versus the Blue Devils to win the 2009 series in Clemson, S.C.
- Duke also claimed an 10-4 win over the No. 13 Tigers in the ACC Tournament to break even at 2-2 last year against Clemson.
- During the regular season, Clemson won the opener 7-3 before Duke bounced back with a 10-7 win in game two. The Tigers won the finale with little trouble, however, when Chris Dwyer and three relievers held Duke to one run in a 10-1 win.
- In the ACC Tournament, Jake Lemmerman finished a single short of hitting for the cycle while driving in three runs for Duke.
- All-ACC first-teamer Andrew Wolcott went 2-0 against the Tigers with a 2.70 ERA in two starts in 2009.
Lemmerman Heating Up
- Junior shortstop Jake Lemmerman enters the weekend on a career-best 13-game hitting streak.
- Lemmerman has crushed four home runs in his past six games and leads Duke with eight homers on the season.
- During his 13-game hit streak, Lemmerman is batting .327 with 12 RBI and 10 runs scored.
- He has also made just one error during that span and leads ACC shortstops this season with a .983 fielding percentage.
- Lemmerman has reached base safely in 29 consecutive games.
Gould Standard
- Senior Jeremy Gould has been one of the ACC's hottest hitters over the past two weeks with two or more hits in six of his past eight games.
- During his current nine-game hitting streak, Gould is batting .390 with two homers and 12 RBI. Included in that run is a career-best five RBI outing in a 9-5 win over William and Mary on Wednesday.
- Gould is Duke's active leader with 216 career hits and ranks eighth all-time at Duke with a career .336 batting average.
- He also leads Duke in batting average (.336), hits (40), doubles (10) and multi-hit games (14) this season.
Getting Comfortable
- Senior catcher Ryan McCurdy, who was converted to catcher during the offseason, has improved dramatically at keeping runners at bay on the base paths.
- Through his first 12 games, McCurdy caught just three of 11 runners trying to steal.
- Through his last 12 games, however, McCurdy has caught seven of 21 runners, which works out to a 66.7% success rate.
- On the season, McCurdy is holding the opposition to a 68.8% success rate and ranks third in the ACC with 10 runners caught stealing.
- Below is a breakdown of how McCurdy has improved in that aspect of the game.
McCurdy Breaks ACC HBP Record
- Duke senior Ryan McCurdy became the ACC's all-time hit by pitch leader earlier this season and currently sits atop the list with 66.
- McCurdy broke the previous record of 61 held by Florida State's Karl Jernigan (1998-2001).
- McCurdy ranks tied for second nationally with 19 HBP this season and leads the country with an average of 0.79 HBP per game.
- McCurdy set Duke's single-season record in the category as a sophomore when he took 27 pitches. He is on pace to break that record this year as well.
Run Producer
- Sophomore Will Piwnica-Worms leads Duke with 27 RBI in his second season in the Royal Blue and White.
- Piwnica-Worms has hit in the three, four or five spot in the batting order in all but two games.
- Along with tying for the ACC lead with five triples, Piwnica-Worms ranks among the top 10 with 17 extra-base hits.
- Piwnica-Worms has driven in an RBI in 16 of Duke's 29 games this season.
Duke = Defense
- Duke ranks fourth nationally with a .981 fielding percentage and has committed the fewest errors in the ACC (21).
- Duke led the nation in fielding percentage with a .978 clip in 2008 and finished fourth with a school-record .979 clip in 2009.
- In four-plus seasons under head coach Sean McNally, the Blue Devils have a .971 fielding percentage and just 282 errors, both of which rank first among ACC teams during that span.
Griszled Veteran
- Sophomore Ben Grisz has emerged as one of the ACC's best relievers in his second season.
- Grisz, a 6-1, 220 pound right-hander, has a 2.93 ERA over a team-high 14 appearances and 27.2 innings in relief.
- He is 2-1 with three saves and has walked just seven batters while striking out 27.
- Grisz has logged all 27.2 innings out of the bullpen while throwing more than one inning nine times.
- He has allowed just three home runs this season and has not thrown a wild pitch all year.
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Players Mentioned
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