With regard to Duke’s sweep of Georgia on Monday at the NCAA Athens Regional, which is more surprising – the Blue Devils’ transformation after their unimpressive performance against Troy on Friday or the Bulldogs’ two-game collapse?
Well, it’s a little of both. Second-seeded Duke (44-16) came from behind to defeat Georgia in both games Monday, winning the opener 8-5 to stave off elimination and then earning its passage to the NCAA Super Regional at Texas Tech with a 8-4 victory in the nightcap.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words," Duke coach Chris Pollard said. “To say I'm proud of our team would be the biggest understatement I’ve ever made.”
On the other hand, the Bulldogs were unable to close this big deal, falling in a regional they hosted for the first time in school history.
“It’s extremely disappointing to be in the position that we were in and not be able to move on,” Georgia coach Scott Stricklin said. “…I told our team that the further that you go (and) the more than you accomplish, when it ends, you’re more disappointed. It hurts a lot.”
For the No. 8 and top-seeded Bulldogs (39-21), who had to win but once to host one of eight Super Regionals, both games represented the ultimate in aggravation as they held a 4-1 lead early in the matinee and a 2-0 advantage in the late show.
Georgia faltered in the late innings in the opener, giving up one run in the sixth and three in the seventh inning and got in trouble early in the finale, allowing the Blue Devils to score five runs in the third inning.
While Georgia played well leading up to Monday’s disaster with an 18-5 win over Campbell and an 11-7 victory over Troy, Duke – which before Saturday had not won an NCAA tournament game in 57 years -- was nothing short of sensational once it expelled the rancid taste of its 6-0 loss to Troy in the tournament’s opening game from its collective jaws.
The Blue Devils managed only seven hits – none for extra bases -- against the Trojans last Friday and fell behind Campbell early by an 8-1 score last Saturday, but from that point on they were money, racking up 58 hits and 47 runs in its next four games.
Duke had 19 hits in the win over Campbell where it scored 11 runs in the ninth inning, and collected 22 hits (including three doubles and two home runs from designated hitter Chris Crabtree) in its rematch with Troy.
Against Georgia, the Blue Devils had 11 hits (including six doubles and two home runs) in its first win and came back with nine hits in the clincher,
“They had some good at-bats they had some big swings,” Stricklin said. “They had some balls off the bat that I thought were outs, but they just kept carrying. They took some good swings and they battled.”
Particularly impressive was Duke’s right fielder Griffin Conine, who finished the day with three home runs.
“He’s a really talented player and he kind of got it going in the game yesterday,” Stricklin said of Conine. “He got a couple of hits (Sunday) and you could see it start to come. He’s a dangerous guy, especially on a day like today with the wind blowing out a little bit and the ball jumping. He’s a dangerous hitter and he’s going to play in the big leagues.”
But it wasn’t all about the Blue Devils’ offense. Duke’s three pitchers bedeviled the Bulldogs’ heaviest hitters Monday, limiting Keegan McGovern, Michael Curry and Adam Sasser to a collective 2-for-22 with two runs and one RBIs, which came courtesy of a Curry home run in the fourth inning of the second game.
McGovern, Georgia’s leader with 18 home runs and 50 RBIs, had a particularly tough day – his last as a college player – going 0-for-7 with four strikeouts and six teammates left on base.
“One of the things that was kind of hard was that I didn’t do what I was supposed to do,” McGovern said.
Senior Mitch Stallings, Duke’s starter in the second game, went seven strong innings with seven hits, four runs (three earned), two walks and six strikeouts. Jack Labosky, who earned the win in relief in the first game, picked up his 10th save of the season in the second game, pitching two scoreless innings.
In the tournament, Duke called up its bullpen frequently and the relievers came through, pitching 29 innings with six earned runs and 26 strikeouts.
The Bulldogs had seven hits in the second game and were led by Aaron Schunk (who was back in the lineup Monday despite breaking his nose in Sunday’s game against Troy) and L.J. Talley, who had two hits each. Starter C.J. Smith, who played in center field in the first game, sustained the loss, pitching 2-1/3 innings with four hits, five earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts.
Despite the disappointing ending, the future looks promising for the Bulldogs, who lose but five seniors.
“It’s hard for it to end, but I’m proud of them and I’m proud of what we’ve all accomplished and we’re ready to move forward,” said Stricklin. “We’ve built this program and that’s what we said we were going to do. We built it, we built it the right way and now it’s built to last.”
