Duke baseball seized control of the Conway regional Saturday night with a 2-1 win over Rider.
Okay, I’m not sure “control” is the right word. And maybe not even “seized.” But Duke made a few more plays than Rider and at the end of the day they are sitting with zero losses, high and dry, while Rider and Coastal Carolina play tomorrow to keep their season alive, after Coastal eliminated UNC Wilmington.
Duke and Rider played two games last month at Duke’s Coombs Field. Rider won the first 2-1. Duke answered the next day with a 4-3 win.
So, no one should have been surprised by another close, low-scoring, high-pressure game.
Color me not surprised.
Jay Beshears gave Duke a 1-0 lead in the first with Duke’s sixth home run of the Super Regional.
But the Blue Devils couldn’t add to it against Rider starter Brian Young. Duke stranded Giovanni DiGiacomo at second in the second inning and lost a golden opportunity in the fourth, getting the first two runners on but stranding both. Andrew Fischer led off the sixth with a walk but went no further.
Meanwhile Duke kept Rider at bay with two innings from starter Andrew Healy--his first outing in three weeks--two innings from Owen Proksch, one from Adam Boucher.
But Rider got the equalizer in the sixth, a passed ball leading to a sac fly, an unearned run but a tying run nonetheless.
Duke sent Young to the sidelines in the top of the seventh--Rider was the home team--and loaded the bases with one out and the top of the order up. But Alex Mooney and Fischer struck out swinging.
Duke was 0-7 with runners in scoring position, Rider 1-7.
Great clutch pitching or poor clutch hitting?
Yes.
Rider went down in order in the seventh and eighth.
Duke finally got that second run in the top of the ninth. DiGiacomo led off with a double and Tyler Albright bunted him to third. After an intentional walk, Damon Lux drove in the go-ahead run with another sac fly. Another intentional walk and a close-but-no cigar fly out by Fischer and we went to the bottom of the ninth.
Fran Oschell III pitched the eighth and came back out for the ninth. Remember he hadn’t pitched since the first game of the ACC Tournament and James Tallon has been shaky in his last two outings.
But also remember that Rider overcame a 5-0 deficit to Coastal Carolina Friday night. This is not a team that goes away easily. Oschell went walk, strikeout, walk, ground out. Runners on second and third, two outs, a win one pitch away for either team.
Duke got the pitch. After a hold-your-breath foul ball Oschell struck out Jordan Erbe and Duke was home free.
What happens next?
Rider and Coastal Carolina have a loss each and will play tomorrow at noon. The loser will be eliminated.
Sometime after that--no earlier than 6 P.M.--the survivor will play undefeated Duke. A Duke win and it’s on to the Super Regional. A Duke loss and it’s decided Monday.
Duke needs to end it tomorrow. Duke will be playing its first game of the day and third of the tournament against an opponent playing its second game of the day and fourth of the tournament. Root for maybe another 21-run, extra inning game between Coastal and Rider, anything to further tire out Duke’s opponent and multiply the advantages of winning the winner’s bracket game.
And, no, I have no idea who will start for Duke. But the deep-bullpen strategy has worked pretty well so far so there’s no reason to fix it, even if it could be fixed.