After losing several of their top contributors from a season ago, questions surrounded the Blue Devils as they prepared for their 2016 campaign.
Young bright spots have already emerged just four games into the season, but Duke will find out more about its underclassmen-laden squad this weekend as the Blue Devils venture away from the friendly confines of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park for the first time this season.
Duke will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the Caravelle Resort Baseball at the Beach tournament at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark Friday through Sunday. Junior Bailey Clark will be on the mound to kick off the weekend slate at 1 p.m. against Ohio State Friday, and left-hander Trent Swart will start against Liberty at noon Saturday. Cornell transfer Brian McAfee is expected to close out the tournament on the mound against No. 19 Coastal Carolina Sunday at 2 p.m. at Springs Brooks Stadium.
Although Duke (3-1) won two of three against then-No. 10 California before defeating Campbell Tuesday night, the tournament will help head coach Chris Pollard continue to evaluate his developing roster, which lost three captains and defensive anchors in Kenny Koplove, Andy Perez and Mike Rosenfeld from a season ago.
“Certainly, [we are] still looking at different lineup combinations. We haven’t even gotten all of our pitchers that we will use during the season into games yet, so there’s a lot of things that we still want to take a look at here in the early season,” Pollard said. “It’s good to get on the road early in the season as I’ve said to kind of find your road rhythm and get one of these trips under your belt before you get into ACC play.”
Throughout the Blue Devils’ first four games, several underclassmen have provided Duke’s lineup with an early boost. Against the Golden Bears, freshmen left fielder Jimmy Herron and shortstop Zack Kone—who sat out in the fall recover from Tommy John surgery—led the Blue Devils in hits, and rookie Griffin Conine clinched the series victory with a walk-off double.
Two days later, another freshman took center stage, as catcher Chris Proctor led the way for Duke against the Fighting Camels, recording two hits and two RBIs from the ninth spot in the lineup. Herron and sophomore second baseman Max Miller also provided a spark with two hits apiece, and Kone delivered several critical throws on slow ground balls to shortstop.
Pollard said that he has been particularly impressed with Kone’s quick development and maturity despite his limited experience.
“Most days, we’ve put a lineup on the field that has some combination of three freshmen and four or five sophomores,” Pollard said. “[Kone's] got very little time under his belt at the college level, but he’s stepped in and played very well.”
Although they have relied on their youth at the plate early in the season, the Blue Devils have turned to their experienced upperclassmen on the mound.
With a limited sample size of just one start, McAfee already looks like a key acquisition for Pollard's pitching staff, which lost weekend starters Michael Matuella, Andrew Istler and James Marvel from a year ago. The right-handed graduate student made his Duke debut Saturday against California, allowing four runs on seven hits in seven innings in a no-decision.
Although Swart—who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery—gave up five hits in three innings while on a pitch count, the Carlsbad, Calif., native was impressive in his first start since 2014. He produced four strikeouts in 17 batters faced, and two of the three runs that he surrendered were unearned.
Like Duke, Ohio State, Liberty and Coastal Carolina head to the beach playing high-quality baseball early in the season. Led by right fielder Jacob Bosiokovic—who is batting .412 with three home runs already in the young season—the Buckeyes (3-0-1) are scoring 8.3 runs per game and plan to start right-hander Adam Niemeyer against the Blue Devils.
Liberty (2-2) intends to start southpaw Victor Cole—who pitched three scoreless innings in his only appearance this season—and Cole Schaefer will be on the mound for Coastal Carolina (2-1) come Sunday afternoon. The Chanticleers—the hosts of the tournament—are coming off a 5-4 win against then-No. 4 Virginia.
“Coastal Carolina has been the premier team in the Big South for a decade. But Liberty has certainly been right there with them the last three or four years. You’re talking about an Ohio State team that’s coming off a 35-win season in arguably the best year in the history of the Big Ten,” Pollard said. “We’ve got three really good opponents.”
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