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Duke Baseball: A Tough Week For Blue Devils Drops Them in Polls

By Kevin Connelly

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 26: Baseballs sit in the Chicago Cubs dugout during their game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on June 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 26: Baseballs sit in the Chicago Cubs dugout during their game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on June 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Duke Baseball headed into last week with some major expectations, but the Blue Devils came out on the short end of the stick after some tough losses.

It had the makings of a program-changing week for the then No. 9 Duke Blue Devils. They were home at Jack Coombs Field to host two Top-15 teams.

First up it was No. 12 East Carolina on Tuesday evening. This game coming on the heels of a sweep of then No. 12 Florida State on the road.

The Blue Devils struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning but runs in fourth, fifth, and sixth innings sunk Duke as East Carolina took a 5-1 lead going into the seventh.

The Blue Devils got one back in the bottom of the seventh, but East Carolina tacked on four runs in the ninth and won the ball game 9-2.

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Bill Chillari took the loss, his first of the season, falling to 5-1, as the Blue Devils fell to 30-8.

East Carolina jumped to No. 8 in the NCAA Top-25 Polls at 30-9 after their win over the Blue Devils.

Next for Duke was a weekend series against No. 4 NC State at Jack Coombs.

It was more of the same for the Blue Devils on Friday night as the Wolfpack topped the Blue Devils 9-2.

NC State used a 3-run third inning and a 4-run fourth inning to separate from Duke. Adam Laskey (6-3) was the losing pitcher from the Blue Devils, as Duke now fell to 30-9 on the season.

Saturday afternoon was your old-fashioned pitchers duel as Mitch Stallings and Brian Brown traded zeros for most of the afternoon.

NC State got two runs in the sixth innings, and that would be enough to down Duke on this day. The Blue Devils comeback attempt fell short as they could only plate one run in the eighth inning, falling to 2-1.

Brown (6-0) picked up the win for NC State, while Stallings (3-3) took the loss for Duke.

It was now up to Duke to stop and NC State sweep on Sunday afternoon and the Blue Devils got started early.

A first-inning grand slam by Griffin Conine chased NC State starter Michael Bienlien after only recording one out.

The deficit was already too much for the Wolfpack as they got one run back in the top of the second, but the Blue Devils exploded for six more runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Ryan Day (2-2) took home the win for Duke, while Bienlien (3-3) was the losing pitcher for the Wolfpack as Duke went onto win 11-2.

After the series, the Blue Devils fell to No. 13 in the polls and 31-10 overall, and 13-6 in the ACC. Duke also dropped from the top spot in the Coastal Division in the ACC.

NC State jumped one spot in the polls to No. 3 and strengthened their lead over Clemson in the ACC Atlantic Division.

Duke is back on the road this week as they take on Davidson on April 24 and then face Virginia Tech for a three-game series over the weekend in Blacksburg.

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