Cavaliers travel to Durham for battle with Blue Devils
By Christie Boyden | April 20, 2012The Virginia baseball team steps up to the plate tonight against struggling Duke to open a three-game weekend series at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Cavaliers (24-13-1, 9-9 ACC) need to overcome junior righthanded pitcher Marcus Stroman, whose 2.05 ERA leads the Blue Devils (14-24, 6-12 ACC). Though Stroman's 6-foot-5, 185-pound frame may make him look comical on the mound, the Duke ace can squat an astounding 490 pounds and leads the nation in total strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings, which means Virginia needs a near-flawless performance to survive him. "They have a real good guy on Friday nights - Stroman - one of the better pitchers in college baseball," sophomore righthanded pitcher Austin Young said. Duke's team ERA of 3.60 is the fifth lowest in the league, and Stroman, named the ACC Conference Pitcher of the Week in early March, is the team's pitching machine.
