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.

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.

There was some movement in the ACC baseball standings after this past weekend’s games. North Carolina is still Baseball America’s top ranked team. Virginia moved up to number five (up from seventh), with NC State making the biggest jump to number six (up from 15). Florida State dropped to tenth (from number six) and Georgia Tech made the biggest drop to number 20 (down from 14). Clemson stayed ranked at number 25 (down from 20).

NC State’s Tarran Senay was named the ACC Player of the Week after driving in a career-high six RBIs in their first game at GT. He hit .411 for the week with three runs scored and nine RBIs.

Miami’s Andrew Suarez was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete game shutout in Sunday’s win over Clemson. He allowed six hits and struck out five (while not walking a batter).

There was some shuffling at the top of the Atlantic Division.

NC State moved into first place at 14-7 (32-10 overall) by sweeping GT for the first time since 1992 and the first time ever in Atlanta. The Wolfpack host Davidson tonight before hosting number one UNC this weekend.

Florida State was swept at UVA and fell to 13-8 (31-9 overall), which is good for a second place tie. The Seminoles scored a total of four runs in the three weekend games. They travel to Jacksonville tonight before hosting Wake Forest over the weekend.

Clemson lost two of three at Miami and are tied with FSU for second place in the Atlantic Division (27-13 overall). They only scored two runs in the entire three game series. The Tigers host Western Carolina on Wednesday before hosting GT over the weekend.

Wake Forest swept winless Boston College (at least in the conference), with Sunday’s game going 11 innings. They are 7-14 and 23-20 overall. The Demon Deacons travel to Winthrop tonight before traveling to FSU for a weekend series.

Maryland lost two of three at home to Virginia Tech to drop to 6-15 and 21-20 overall. The Terps host Liberty and travel to Towson in the midweek before traveling to Duke over the weekend.

Boston College was swept on the road at Wake Forest to drop to 0-20 in the ACC (6-33 overall). The Eagles will try to win their first conference game when they host Miami over the weekend.

» Continue reading “ACC Baseball Weekly Update”

The Duke men’s basketball team played very little defense on Friday night and lost to Maryland, 83-74, in the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals. The Blue Devils never led in the game and now must await Selection Sunday to see if they still garner a number one seed.

It started from the very beginning when Ryan Kelly tried to guard Maryland’s Dez Wells. That didn’t go so well. Wells ended up scoring a game-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting. After Kelly failed, Tyler Thornton tried and also failed.

The Terps shot 51 % from the field and out-rebounded the Blue Devils 36-26.

It must have been the haircuts, as all three Duke seniors cut their locks and had subpar games. Kelly only scored eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. He only had three rebounds. Seth Curry scored 15 points, but only made 4-of-10 shots. Mason Plumlee led the Blue Devils with 19 points, but committed four turnovers and once again struggled against Maryland’s Alex Len.

The bright spot for Duke is that Rasheed Sulaimon looks like he has regained his confidence. In the first half, he single-handedly kept the Blue Devils in the game. He finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

In other ACC Tournament action…

» Continue reading “No Defense Leads to Duke Loss in ACC Quarterfinals”

The Duke men’s basketball team will play Maryland on Friday night of the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals, as the Terps beat Wake Forest on Thursday night, 75-62. That came after the Terps were down by five (35-30) at the half.

Former Xavier Musketeer Dez Wells scored 14 of his 21 points in the Terps second half comeback. It was his second 20 point performance against Wake, the other coming on Chris Paul Day in Winston-Salem. They went on a 24-8 run and held the Demon Deacons to zero field goals over an 8:30 minute span. Wake also only made 4-of-10 free throws in that span.

Wake’s CJ Harris scored 13 of his 19 points over the game’s first 13:30 minutes. The Demon Deacons lost 10 of their final 13 games and were denied their first ACC Tourney win since 2007.

Duke and Maryland split the season series, winning both games at home. The big difference between both games is that Ryan Kelly is back and playing well.

To the other ACC Tournament games….

» Continue reading “Duke Gets Maryland on Friday Night in ACC Tourney”

The ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament got off to a crazy start in Greensboro with fifth seed Miami playing 12 seed Virginia Tech. The Hokies scored just eight first half points. EIGHT! However, they only lost 45-39, as they out-scored the Hurricanes 31-24 in the second half.

Neither team shot the ball well, as VT shot just 26.9% from the field and Miami shot a little better at 28.6%.

Shawnice “Pepper” Wilson led all scorers with 17 points for Miami. Morgan Stroman finished with eight points and 13 rebounds.

Miami will play four seed Florida State on Friday at 11am ET to open the quarterfinals.

In the second game, the eight seed NC State was down to the nine seed Clemson at the half, but came back to blow the Tigers away 30-16 in the second half to win 56-45.

The Wolfpack won the game on the charity stripe, as they made (18) more than the Tigers took (seven). Kody Burke led all scorers with 16 points and Marissa Kastanek chipped in 14 points. Nikki Dixon was the lone Tiger in double figures with 11.

NC State moves on to face number one Duke for the second straight season on Friday afternoon. The Wolfpack upset Duke last year, as the eight seed beat the one seed for the first time ever.

Then the night got crazier.

Wake’s Lakevia Boykin on March 3, 2013 at Maryland.

The seven seed Georgia Tech looked like they were going to continue their hot streak into the quarterfinals, as they led ten seeded Wake Forest at the half, 43-36. Instead, it was the Demon Deacons who came out hot in the second half. They out-scored the Yellow Jackets, 50-24 in the second half (and shot 50% from the field) to pull off the upset by a final of 86-67. GT is still the most disappointing team in the ACC. Wake has now won at least one ACC Tourney game in each of the last five seasons.

All five starters for Wake scored in double figures, as Lakevia Boykin found her shot. She made 8-of-14 shots to score 21 points (ten in the second half). Sandra Garcia recorded a double-double: ten points and 12 rebounds. She also blocked three shots. For GT, Tyaunna Marshall scored a game-high 22 points, but needed 26 shots to get that total. She also hauled in 11 rebounds.

The Demon Deacons move on to play the two seed Maryland on Friday night. It will be a rematch of last Sunday’s game (which was a Terps blowout).

In the final game of the night, 11 seed Boston College led by ten at the half and fended off a comeback by six seeded Virginia, 66-57.

Four starters for the Eagles scored in double figures, as Kerri Shields led them with 16 points and seven rebounds. She made 4-of-8 three pointers. Kristen Doherty finished with 15 points and six rebounds. For UVA, Ataira Franklin scored 17 points, but fouled out.

BC will close out the quarterfinals on Friday night against three seeded North Carolina.

Will we see more craziness in the quarterfinals?

The Duke men’s basketball team sought revenge over NC State on Thursday night after losing to the Wolfpack back on January 21st for their first loss of the season. That loss came in Raleigh and tonight’s game was at cozy Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils held on for the 98-85 victory.

I say held on because the Wolfpack cut the deficit to eight points with 1:09 left in the game. That was after Duke held a 58-37 lead at halftime. A 21 POINT LEAD!!!

I had to walk away because I had an eerie feeling that Duke might blow the lead completely.

The Blue Devils shot over 60% from the field in the first half and for awhile, NC State was ice cold. But they ended up shooting a respectable 43.2% from the field in the first half. What set the two teams apart in the first half was the Blue Devils shooting from the outside: they made 10-of-17 three pointers, while NC State made just one.

In the second half, NC State out-scored Duke 48-40. They also started making some shots (19-of-29). Coach K can NOT be happy about Duke’s defense in the second half.

The Blue Devils won the free throw side of the game, as they made 32-of-41 compared to just 11-of-19 from NC State. But both teams had key players in foul trouble. Duke actually made 8 of their final nine free throws. The free throws and the three pointers are what won the game for Duke.

They were also led by their two senior starters. Mason Plumlee was perfect from the field in the first half (5-for-5) for 15 points. He doubled that to 30 points by the end of the game and made 9-of-11 shots. He also hauled in nine rebounds. Seth Curry led Duke with 18 points in the first half and finished with 26 points.

Quinn Cook, despite being in foul trouble, was a perfect 4-for-4 from the outside in the first half for 12 points. He finished with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting and dished out six assists.

Duke improved to 20-2 on the season (7-2 in the ACC), the 29th time Coach K has reached the 20-win plateau. NC State dropped to 16-7 and 5-5 in the ACC.

» Continue reading “Duke Holds on to Get Revenge on NC State”

It is about midway through the ACC men’s basketball schedule and it a good time took take a look at the preseason rankings and which players the media and coaches thought would rule the conference. Were they right or were they wrong?

Let’s take a look.

Here is what the preseason rankings in the ACC looked like back in October:

Here is what the current standings look like:

Only Duke (number four) and Miami (number eight) are ranked in the top 25. The Hurricanes have surprised everyone, especially with their blowout victory over Duke a few weeks back. They are even selling out their home court for games.

NC State has been the biggest disappointment, as they cannot seem to put all the talent together. Sure, they gave Duke their first loss when they were ranked number one, but it came in Raleigh. But after that win over the Blue Devils, they lost four out of their next six games (to Maryland, Wake Forest, Virginia, and Miami).

Maryland has been a bit of a disappointment, but then again, they did not play anyone in the non-conference. After losing to Kentucky in their first game, the Terps won 13 in a row. Then the ACC schedule got underway, and they have lost two in a row twice and have lost five of their last eight.

FSU has also been a bit of a disappointment, but that started at the very beginning. The Seminoles lost their first game of the season, to South Alabama at home. They then lost three in a row at home after Thanksgiving, one of them to Mercer. Only one of their four losses in the ACC came by less than ten points. Back on January 19th, they only scored 36 points in a loss at Virginia. They do however have two buzzer beater wins last week, both game-winning shots came from Michael Snaer, who has the knack for the dramatic.

Speaking of UVA, they have been a bit of a surprise. Riding the hot shooting of Joe Harris (15.3 points per game and 45.8% from the three point line), the Cavaliers have been in the top four all season. However a loss to Georgia Tech may have brought them back to earth. All of their losses this season (six of them) have come to lesser opponents (like Old Dominion, Delaware, Clemson, and Wake Forest).

» Continue reading “ACC Men’s Basketball Midway Report”

The Duke men’s basketball team fell for the first time this season at the hands of ACC rival NC State. It was an exciting game throughout, but the Wolfpack pulled away for an 84-76 victory. Duke trailed 41-39 at the half.

Via Duke Blue Planet

The Blue Devils cut the Wolfpack lead to 58-57 on a Seth Curry three pointer with 10:33 to go. NC State called a timeout and Duke was down by ten points with 7:44 to go. The game was really over at that point. It was definitely over when Curry went down with a left leg injury (his right has been the problem all season long). Before getting hurt, he scored 22 points (8-of-16) and hauled in five rebounds.

What kept Duke in the game in the first half was their rebounding edge and Mason Plumlee‘s dominance inside. Duke had ten offensive rebounds and a 20-14 rebounding edge. Mason scored ten points on 5-of-6 shooting and had eight rebounds. In the second half, both cooled off (or NC State just got better). Duke ended up getting out-rebounded (31-33) and Mason only scored five second half points and only picked up three rebounds (15 points and 11 rebounds total).

Duke’s defense also suffered in the second half (though the Wolfpack shot 50.8% from the field overall). They just did not have an answer for the big three of CJ Leslie, Lorenzo Brown, and Richard Howell. Leslie (or Calvin as his coach calls him), scored 25 total points (14 in the second half) and hauled in six rebounds. Brown scored eight second half points to finish with 12 points. He also dished out 13 assists to just four turnovers. Howell scored ten second half points and hauled in 12 second half rebounds to finish with 16 points and 18 rebounds.

Without injured senior Ryan Kelly, Josh Hairston started in his place. He gave them a solid effort, but he just couldn’t be strong when pulling down rebounds. He finished with eight points and five rebounds.

» Continue reading “Duke Falls From the Unbeatens”

The Duke women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 in the ACC with a 67-57 road victory over NC State. Though it was just a short trip to Raleigh, it was an ugly game that was much closer than the final score. NC State dropped to 0-2.

Haley Peters

The Blue Devils led 31-28 at the half and the closeness of the score continued into the second half. They led by just three points with six minutes to play when Haley Peters hit a three pointer to increase the Duke lead to 53-47. NC State never got closer.

It didn’t help that the Wolfpack did not score for almost four minutes from the time they got the deficit to three points to when Marissa Kastanek hit a three pointer with 2:55 to play. They also did not score over the game’s final 47 seconds after cutting the deficit to 61-57.

What helped Duke to victory was their wide margin of victory in the rebounding category. They out-rebounded NC State 40-28 and hauled in 16 offensive boards. Making free throws also helped the Blue Devils in the second half. After going just 1-for-3 from the charity stripe in the first half, they made 13-of-16 after halftime. They made 12-of-14 free throws over the game’s final 5:21.

What kept the Wolfpack in the game was the three point shot in the second half. After going just 1-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first half, they made 5-of-7 in the second half.

I mentioned in my New Year’s resolutions that Peters needed to be more consistent. Well…she showed up to play tonight. Peters recorded a double-double: 17 points and 11 rebounds. She went 8-for-15 from the field.

Chelsea Gray has been limiting her turnovers (she committed just one tonight), but she has not been racking up the assists (she had just two). However, she was solid with the rest of her game against NC State. Gray scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting. She also hauled in six rebounds. The key in this game was her free throw shooting: she made all eight of her attempts. She made six of her free throws over the game’s final 5:21.

» Continue reading “Duke Squeaks By NC State in ACC Road Opener”