The Duke baseball team lost their season finale to visiting NC State on Saturday afternoon. The 9-1 loss came in a three-game sweep.

The Wolfpack scored four runs in the top of the first and pounded out 15 in the game. Four players had multi-hit games, including Bryan Adametz, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs (two coming in the first).

The Blue Devils scored their lone run in the eighth on Andy Perez’ RBI single (one of his three hits). He finished the season as Duke’s top hitter at .316. He also stole his team-leading 18th base in the loss.

Drew Van Orden and James Marvel combined to pitch five scoreless innings of relief.

The Blue Devils season has come to a close on a low note. The ACC Tournament begins this week at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. I’ll have more on the eight teams who qualified and the matchups on Monday.

The Duke baseball team could not hold a lead to visiting NC State and lost in ten innings, 7-6. The Blue Devils led 6-5 heading into the top of the 8th inning when Logan Ratledge delivered a two out RBI single. They actually led 4-0 and then 6-3.

The Wolfpack scored the go ahead run on an Andrew Istler wild pitch in the tenth (he lost his sixth game of the season). The Blue Devils had the tying run on second base with one out, but Chris Marconcini fouled out to end the game off new pitcher Grant Sasser.

Duke got to Preseason All-American (and last season’s ACC Pitcher of the Year) Carlos Rodon, but he still pitched nine innings. He allowed six runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out 15.

They loaded the bases in the second inning with three straight singles, but could not push a run across. Duke scored four runs in the 3rd inning off Rodon, capped by Jordan Betts’ two-run double. The other two runs scored on wild pitches. They scored their final two runs in the 5th inning without a hit. One scored on a fielder’s choice, the other on Marconcini‘s sac fly.

From there, Rodon retired the side in order over his final four innings of work. In that timespan, he struck out eight.

Blue Devils starter Trent Swart allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks over 7.1 innings. He struck out four. Istler entered in the 8th inning and allowed the go ahead run to score.

On offense for Duke, Andy Perez and Betts collected two hits each. Perez scored three runs while Betts drove in three.

The two teams finish out the series later this afternoon. It will be Duke’s final game of the season.

19 former Duke men’s basketball players played during the NBA’s regular season. Ten of those players advanced to the NBA Playoffs. However, just two remain as I am typing this.

That means that eight were eliminated, so let’s take a look at them.

The LA Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs (who advanced to the Western Conference Finals last night) in the first round. Guard Chris Duhon played in two games. In the final game, he played 43 minutes and scored 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting. He also dished out seven assists. On the season, Duhon averaged 2.9 points and 2.9 assists over 17.8 minutes.

The Boston Celtics were eliminated by the NY Knicks in the first round. Shavlick Randolph played just three minutes in the April 23rd loss. He did haul in three rebounds.

The Milwaukee Bucks were swept by the Miami Heat in the first round (the Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals). Two former Blue Devils were a part of the Bucks season. Mike Dunleavy averaged 12.3 points, four rebounds, and two assists over their four playoff games. During the regular season, he averaged 10.5 points in 25.9 minutes.

JJ Redick averaged 7.3 points in the four playoff games. After playing in 50 games to start the season with Orlando, he was traded to Milwaukee and played in 28 games. During the regular season, Redick averaged 12.3 points.

» Continue reading “8 Former Blue Devils Eliminated from NBA Playoffs”

The Duke baseball team lost to visiting NC State on Thursday night, 5-2. The Wolfpack scored three runs with two outs in the first inning. They are just percentage points behind the tie atop the Atlantic Division.

The Blue Devils had at least one base runner in every inning, but went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They struck out at least seven times with men in scoring position, according to Duke head coach Chris Pollard.

Jeff Kremer went 3-for-4.

Robert Huber took the loss, as he allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks over just three innings. Nick Hendrix was solid in relief, as he allowed one run on five hits and a walk over 3.1 innings. Sarkis Ohanian finished out the game with 2.2 scoreless innings.

The two teams continue their series tonight.

*With Thursday’s games, the top eight teams have clinched spots in the upcoming ACC Tournament. However, it has gotten interesting near the top.

Virginia beat top seed North Carolina, moving them a win from a tie at the top (with two more games to go). Clemson beat FSU to create a tie atop the Atlantic Division (with two more to go). Miami beat Georgia Tech, bringing them a game away from pulling out of the final spot.

Former Duke men’s basketball player Kyle Singler was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie second team after a solid season with the Detroit Pistons.

Via Duke Blue Planet

Singler was selected 33rd overall in the 2011 NBA Draft and elected to play internationally during his first season away from Duke. This season, he was the only Piston to play in all 82 games (74 starts). He averaged 8.8 points and four rebounds in 28 minutes per game. Among NBA rookies, he was fourth in scoring, fifth in three point percentage (35%), and sixth in rebounds.

Portland’s Damian Lillard was named the Rookie of the Year, and was joined on the All-Rookie first team by Dion Waiters (Cleveland), Bradley Beal (Washington), Anthony Davis (New Orleans), and Harrison Barnes (Golden State).

Joining Singler on the second team are teammate Andre Drummond, Tyler Zeller (Cleveland), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Charlotte), and Jonas Valanciunas (Toronto).

On Thursday, it was announced that the Duke women’s basketball team will face Purdue on December 5th at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It will be the seventh year of the women’s event, which has been extended to 2016. The official title of the challenge rotates each year (last year it was the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, but does it really matter).

Last season, the ACC won the challenge 7-5 and it was their fifth challenge win. Six Big Ten teams reached last season’s NCAA Tournament, while the ACC had five.

It is the second time over the last three seasons that Purdue will travel to Durham. Duke won on December 1, 2011, 64-53.

The Challenge gets underway on Wednesday, December 4th, with four games:

New to the ACC Notre Dame @ Penn State, Illinois @ Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech @ Indiana, and Michigan State @ FSU.

It concludes on the 5th with eight games:

NC State @ Northwestern, Boston College @ Wisconsin, new to the ACC Syracuse @ Iowa, Purdue @ Duke, Ohio State @ Maryland, Nebraska @ North Carolina, Michigan @ Virginia, and Miami @ Minnesota.

In their final non-conference game of the season, the Duke baseball team beat host UNC Greensboro, 12-2 on Tuesday. The Blue Devils collected 17 hits, one shy of their season-high (which came against UNC Greensboro back in April).

Andy Perez and Mark Lumpa (the top two hitters in the Blue Devils lineup) combined for eight of the 17 hits for Duke. Those two reached base nine times and scored four runs. Lumpa also drove in three runs.

Those two set the table for the middle of Duke’s order. Jeff Kremer went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Jordan Betts drove in two runs on two hits and Chris Marconcini drove in three.

Duke scored three runs each in the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings to blow the game open.

James Marvel got the start for Duke and allowed one run on three hits. Drew Van Orden earned the win, though he allowed one run on four hits over three innings. Sarkis Ohanian and Michael Matuella combined to pitch the final three innings, without allowing a hit.

The Blue Devils now host NC State Thursday-Saturday in their final series of the season.

The ACC baseball regular season is coming to a close and the seeding is starting to come together for the upcoming ACC Tournament. The upcoming weekend (Thursday-Saturday) finishes up the regular season. There are still six ACC teams ranked in Baseball America’s top 25, though there is a new number one (more on that later).

Let’s take a look back at last weekend, starting in the Atlantic Division.

Florida State won two out of three games at NC State last weekend and out-scored them 21-10. They improved to 18-9 in the ACC and 42-10 overall, which kept them at number nine in the rankings. The Seminoles host second-place Clemson over the weekend.

DJ Stewart earned ACC Co-Player of the Week honors after hitting .600 over a four game span. He also drove in nine runs. The freshman left fielder had five doubles in nine at-bats and scored nine runs. He was also named Collegiate Baseball’s Player of the Week.

Clemson swept Georgia Southern in the non-conference last weekend and out-scored them 25-7. They are 17-10 in the conference and 37-15 overall, which moved them up to number 17. The Tigers now travel to FSU in a battle for first place, after hosting USC Upstate tonight.

Matthew Crownover was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week. He made two starts last week, totaling 13 innings and picked up two wins. The freshman tossed six shutout innings on Monday against Maryland, while allowing just four hits. Then on four days rest, he pitched seven scoreless innings, while allowing just three hits. Overall, Crownover is 7-1 with a 1.90 ERA this season.

NC State lost two of three to FSU and dropped to third place in the Atlantic Division (16-10). However, they are still ranked fifth in the BA top 25 (39-13). The Wolfpack travel to Duke over the weekend and could move up in the standings with a sweep.

Maryland lost to VCU in a midweek game and dropped to 28-24 overall (9-18 in the ACC). The Terps host Boston College this weekend.

Wake Forest won two of three at Miami to improve to 9-18 in the ACC and 28-24 overall. The Demon Deacons host Winthrop before traveling to Virginia Tech over the weekend.

Boston College had the weekend off and travels to Maine tonight before heading to Maryland over the weekend. The Eagles are just 3-23 and 11-37 overall.

» Continue reading “ACC Baseball Weekly Recap”

The Duke men’s lacrosse team won a double overtime thriller against Loyola in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Blue Devils won 12-11 over the reigning national champs in Durham. Duke now moves onto the quarterfinals to face second-seed Notre Dame next Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Case Matheis scored with 1:40 left in the second overtime to propel them to victory. He sent the game into overtime when he tied it at 11-11 with 1:05 left in the fourth period.

The Duke women’s lacrosse team also advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament with two wins over the weekend.

They also won a double overtime thriller in the first round, with a 10-9 win over Princeton. Maddy Acton scored the game winner (one of her two goals on the day) on Friday, just 45 seconds into the second overtime.

Duke out-shot the Tigers, 25-20 and goalie Kelsey Duryea recorded six saves. The Blue Devils defense held the Tigers scoreless for almost ten minutes before Erin Slifer scored with 2:50 to go to tie the game at 9-9.

Five different Blue Devils scored in Sunday’s second round game, as they beat host Navy, 10-5. They move on to face the top seed, Maryland, on Saturday at College Park. It will be the second time this season the two teams have played.

The Duke defense held Navy scoreless for a little over 41 minutes. Meanwhile, the offense went on the attack after Navy took a 4-2 lead with 19:50 to go in the half. Acton scored once again and was honored as the WomensLax.com Rookie of the Week.

With the loss in Sunday’s finale, the Duke baseball team was swept by Virginia. They lost the finale, 14-6.

Duke actually led 3-0 early, but the Cavaliers just kept putting runs on the board. The Blue Devils cut the deficit to one twice, but a five run 7th inning put the game away. They also scored five runs in the second.

The Blue Devils still just have nine ACC wins, which will not be enough to qualify for the conference tournament with just one weekend left of baseball.

Duke collected 15 hits, but so did UVA. Chris Marconcini went 3-for-4 with a walk. In the weekend series, he hit .559 with three walks and three runs scored. Grant McCabe, Jeff Kremer, Jordan Betts, and Reed Anthes each collected two hits. McCabe drove in two and Betts scored two runs.

Robert Huber took the loss, as he allowed five runs in just 1.1 innings. He got the start. Nick Hendrix was solid in his 4.1 relief innings. He allowed two runs on five hits.

Next up, the Blue Devils travel to UNC Greensboro on Tuesday night.