So much for momentum carrying over from a conference tournament to the NCAA tournament.

Duke lost 4-1 to Connecticut on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Norman Regional at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Duke had eight hits and scored in the first inning, but only one of the hits went for extra bases and the Blue Devils stranded seven runners in the last six innings.

The Blue Devils (39-19) will play an elimination game at 3 p.m. Saturday against the loser of Friday night’s game between Oral Roberts and Oklahoma.

After averaging nearly 11 runs per game in the ACC tournament last week, Duke’s only run came on freshman AJ Gracia’s single in the first, scoring Zac Morris from second base.

Duke got two singles in the fifth when it was a 1-1 game before Ben Miller flew out and Gracia struck out. In the seventh, after UConn (33-23) had taken a lead, the Blue Devils got a couple of two-out singles by Morris and Miller before Gracia grounded out.

Duke had not been held under two runs in a game since an April 20 loss to Virginia Tech, which was 2-1 in 11 innings.

Andrew Healy started on the mound and got off to a bumpy start that could’ve been a whole lot worse.

He only gave up one run in the first inning. He gave up two doubles and hit a batter in the first four that he faced, also throwing a wild pitch and issuing a four-pitch walk. Healy was helped out by a 7-6-2 put out on the second double, which cut down Paul Tommaro at the plate.

That play featured shortstop Wallace Clark making an off-balance throw from the relay position and catcher Alex Stone doing a great job of dropping the tag.

The go-ahead runs came after UConn (33-23) bunted itself into a worse situation.

With runners at the corners and one out in the sixth, Jake Studley laid down a safety squeeze up the first base line. The runner at third, Korey Morton, didn’t run, so that situation became second-and-third, two outs. Ryan Hyde came through, though, with a two-out single that scored Morton and Bryan Padilla, who both reached on walks by Ryan Higgins.

UConn’s insurance run came in the ninth when freshman Tyler Minick launched a solo home run over the batter’s eye in centerfield.