Duke had a great game plan going into Sunday’s NCAA Tournament play. Cooper Stinson was going to replicate his lights-out performance of last Sunday against NC State, while those Duke bats that piled up 14 runs against Wright State Saturday would give Duke a cushion to cruise into a matchup against Tennessee later in the day. Stinson would go deep into the game and Duke would have enough fresh arms to challenge the Vols at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
But even the best plans need proper execution and there’s the rub. Liberty jumped all over Duke in a first inning that, given the context, ranks among the worst innings in Duke baseball history.