Duke Opens ACC Slate at North Carolina

3/5/2015 4:10:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DUKE (10-1) at No. 11 NORTH CAROLINA (8-3)
Chapel Hill, N.C. | Boshamer Stadium

Friday, Mar. 6 | 3 p.m.
Duke RHP Andrew Istler vs. UNC RHP Zach Gallen
Video | Audio | Live Stats

Saturday, Mar. 7 | 2 p.m.
Duke RHP Michael Matuella vs. UNC RHP J.B. Bukauskas
Video | Audio | Live Stats

Sunday, Mar. 8 | 2 p.m.
Duke RHP Bailey Clark vs. UNC RHP Benton Moss
Video | Audio | Live Stats

This Weekend's Series
Duke opens ACC play with a trip to nearby Chapel Hill, N.C., to face rival North Carolina in a three-game series at Boshamer Stadium Mar. 6-8 … The Blue Devils and the Tar Heels square off Friday, Mar. 6 at 3 p.m., Saturday, Mar. 7 at 2 p.m., and Sunday, Mar. 8 at 2 p.m. ... At 10-1, Duke is off to its best start since beginning the 2008 campaign 12-0 ... The Blue Devils bring a nine-game win streak into the weekend ... During that streak, Duke owns a 1.80 team ERA and .982 fielding percentage.

Follow the Action
The Blue Devil Network will provide a free audio broadcast available on GoDuke.com with Chris Edwards on the call ... Friday's series opener will be broadcast on Buzz Sports Radio, available on 96.5 FM in Durham and 99.3 FM in Raleigh ... GoHeels TV will stream all three games on GoHeels.com ... Live stats are also available via GoHeels.com.

Blue Devils in the ACC
The Blue Devils were picked to finish fifth in the Coastal Division in the 2015 ACC Preseason Coaches Poll ... Last year, Duke posted a 16-14 league record and finished in the top four in the conference standings for the first time since 1994 ... Duke's 16 ACC wins also tied the program record set in 1994 ... The Blue Devils swept four ACC series in the same season for the first time in 20 years ... In comparison, Duke totaled four ACC sweeps from 1995-2010 ... Duke is 367-760-4 all-time in ACC games and holds a 597-951-9 record against teams currently in the conference: Boston College (11-15), Clemson (66-127-2), Florida State (19-76), Georgia Tech (33-87), Louisville (0-0), Miami (9-28), NC State (126-152-1), North Carolina (96-182-3), Notre Dame (8-4), Pitt (4-4), Virginia (55-100-1), Virginia Tech (32-24) and Wake Forest (138-152-2).

Duke vs. North Carolina
Friday's game marks the 282nd all-time meeting between Duke and North Carolina in a series that dates back to 1891 … The Tar Heels lead the all-time series, 182-96-3 … Duke is in search of its first series win in Chapel Hill since 2009 … In 2014, the Blue Devils swept the Tar Heels for the first time since 1994 and ended a nine-game losing streak to UNC … Duke won last year's opening game, 3-2, before collecting a 9-8, 12-inning decision Saturday … The Blue Devils wrapped up the sweep with a 6-4 win Sunday.

Devilish Defense
Duke leads the ACC with a .980 fielding percentage through 11 games ... The Blue Devils have committed just nine errors on the season and are the only ACC team to total 10 or fewer errors in 2015 ... The Blue Devils have committed multiple errors just twice this season and have played five games without a defensive miscue ... Defense has become a hallmark of the program ... Over the past eight seasons, Duke has posted a fielding percentage under .970 just once (.967 in 2012).

Pitching Prowess
After turning in one of the best seasons on the mound in program history in 2014, the Blue Devil pitching staff has picked up right where it left off early in 2015 ... Duke is one of just two ACC teams, along with Virginia, with an ERA under 2.00 (1.76) ... Prior to last season's 3.14 team ERA, the Blue Devils had not posted an ERA under 4.00 since 1993 ... The Blue Devils also rank third in the league in strikeouts (112) and are currently on pace to break the program-record 501 strikeouts registered in 2014 ... Duke's trio of weekend starters -- Andrew Istler, Michael Matuella and Bailey Clark -- have combined for a 3-0 record, 1.21 ERA (44.2 IP, 6 ER) and 6.86 strikeout-to-walk ratio (48 SO, 7 BB).

Istler on Career Lists
Senior right-hander Andrew Istler has flourished in a variety of roles during his Duke career and is currently ranked among the top 10 in Blue Devil history in several categories ... At Duke, he ranks seventh in career ERA (3.20) and third in ERA since the aluminum bat era in 1974 ... Istler has 12 career saves to his credit, also good for fourth in the school record books ... In three starts this season, Istler has compiled a 1.53 ERA over 17.2 innings ... In 2014, he compiled career bests in ERA (2.84), wins (8), strikeouts (59), opposing batting average (.254) and innings pitched (76.0) ... Prior to the start of the 2015 season, Istler was rated the No. 29 college senior by Perfect Game.

Mighty Matuella
Following a breakout sophomore season, right-hander Michael Matuella tossed six scoreless innings in the season opener Feb. 13 to start his junior campaign ... In that game against Cal, Matuella scattered four hits and struck out eight batters to earn the road victory ... He fanned the first four batters he faced and struck out at least one Golden Bear in all but one frame ... In 2014, Matuella turned in a 2.78 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work ... He finished this past season ranked 18th in the ACC in ERA, second in opposing average (.190), 17th in strikeouts and third in strikeouts per game (10.65) ... Tabbed the No. 2 prospect for the 2015 MLB Draft by MLB.com, Matuella also garnered preseason All-America recognition from Baseball America (first team), D1Baseball.com (third team) and Perfect Game (third team) ... He was also rated the No. 1 junior by Perfect Game and tabbed to the Golden Spikes Award watch list.

Clark Coming on Strong
Sophomore Bailey Clark pitched just 3.2 innings his freshman season but has flourished as Duke's Sunday starter early in 2015 ... Over the first three starts of his career, Clark owns a 1-0 record with a 1.35 ERA and 22 strikeouts ... He ranks fifth in the ACC in innings pitched (20.0), eighth in strikeouts (22) and fifth in walks (2),

Clark Named ACC Pitcher of the Week
Sophomore Bailey Clark earned his first career ACC Pitcher of the week citation Feb. 23 after leading Duke to a 1-0 victory over Iona ... Clark was dominant from start to finish in his second career start ... The right-hander needed just 85 pitches to toss eight scoreless innings, strike out a career-high 11 batters and earn his first career win ... His 11 strikeouts were the most by a Duke pitcher since Michael Matuella fanned 12 on May 4, 2014.

Bullpen Success
In addition to strong starting pitching, the Blue Devils also boast a solid bullpen ... Dating back to last season, Duke is 35-0 when leading after seven innings ... Over the past five games, Duke's bullpen owns a 1.44 ERA (31.2 IP, 5 ER) while striking out 40 batters ... The Blue Devils have five relief pitchers with over 5.0 innings of work this year in Mitch Stallings, Kenny Koplove, Sarkis Ohanian, Nick Hendrix and Conner Stevens ... That quintet has combined for a 0.77 ERA (34.2 IP, 3 ER), 42 strikeouts and 6.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Koplove Closing
In addition to starting all 11 games at shortstop, junior Kenny Koplove also serves as the team's closer ... Koplove ranks fifth in the ACC with two saves ... He has yet to allow a run or a hit in four appearances this season ... In addition, Koplove has struck out 13 of the 23 batters he's faced this season ... Prior to the 2015 campaign, Koplove had taken the mound just three times during his freshman season and did not pitch at all in his sophomore campaign.

Perez on the Base Paths
Senior Andy Perez has been one of the most prolific base stealers in school history ... He enters the weekend with 55 career stolen bases, good for sixth in program history ... Perez leads the ACC with 11 stolen bases this season ... He swiped a career-high four bases in Duke's win over Rider Mar. 1 ... Perez has also stolen at least one base in five-straight games heading into the weekend.

Perez Provides Spark
Senior Andy Perez has served as the catalyst for Duke's offense out of the leadoff spot ... He enters the weekend with a .325 average and .423 on base percentage ... During Duke's nine-game win streak, Perez is batting a team-best .419 while posting a .548 slugging percentage and .512 on-base percentage ... He has also stolen 11 bases and walked nine times over the past nine games ... Perez brings a team-best, five-game hit streak into the weekend ... Over the past five games, Perez is batting .600 with six walks, four runs scores, four RBI and eight stolen bases.

Youth Movement
A veteran team in 2014, Duke relies heavily on its bevy of talented underclassmen this season ... Three rookies -- Justin Bellinger, Evan Dougherty and Jack Labosky -- have started all 11 contests ... Labosky leads the team in batting average (.341) and hits (14), while Dougherty is the only Blue Devil to reach base in all 11 games ... Dougherty has scored a team-high 11 runs and ranks second on the team in walks (8) ... All 12 eligible true freshmen have made their collegiate debuts this season with 10 recording their first career hits ... The Blue Devils have had as many as five freshmen on the field at one time.

Blue Devil Freshmen Ranked Nationally
Perfect Game ranked Duke's 2014 recruiting class No. 16 in the nation this past fall ... The Blue Devils' roster includes freshmen pitchers Chris Koppenhaver, Chris McGrath, Mitch Stallings and Luke Whitten, infielders Justin Bellinger, Daniel Calabretta, Ryan Day, Jack Labosky and Max Miller, outfielders Evan Dougherty, James McGhee and Michael Smiciklas, and catcher Peter Zyla ... Two players -- Bellinger and McGrath -- were selected in the 2014 MLB Draft ... Bellinger was taken in the 11th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, while McGrath was picked in the 35th round by the Seattle Mariners.