They waited 55 years to get back to the NCAA tournament and have had nine days off between games, but the Blue Devils hope to shake off any rust quickly and a make a postseason statement this weekend.
Third-seeded Duke will open play at the four-team Columbia, S.C., NCAA tournament regional Friday at 1 p.m. against second-seeded UNC-Wilmington at Founders Park. This weekend's regional also features No. 1 seed and host South Carolina and fourth-seeded Rhode Island, who will do battle at 7 p.m. Friday. The regional follows a double elimination format.
The Blue Devils last played May 24 against Wake Forest in the opening round of the ACC tournament and will look to keep the bats hot after finishing the regular season 23-10 to get back to the NCAA tournament.
“We did a situational scrimmage [Tuesday], and it actually went really well,” Blue Devil head coach Chris Pollard said. “We swung the bats well and felt good about where we are in terms of our timing and our rhythm going into Friday.”
Duke (33-22) averaged nearly two more runs per game during the last 33 games of the season compared to the first 22, thanks in large part to sophomores Jack Labosky and Justin Bellinger. The No. 3 and 4 batters in the lineup have combined for 14 home runs this year and are hitting .296 and .336, respectively.
The bullpen also hopes to keep its momentum going after seeing just four innings of action in the last two weeks. This season, Ryan Day, Al Pesto, Kevin Lewallyn and Labosky each have ERAs better than 2.20 in a combined 91 1/3 innings pitched, and closer Mitch Stallings boasts a 3.03 ERA and nine saves.
Graduate student Brian McAfee will start on the mound against the Seahawks (39-17) Friday, and Pollard anticipates using Trent Swart Saturday and Kellen Urbon Sunday if Urbon is not used in the bullpen by then.
All three anticipated starters for Duke this weekend if the Blue Devils can win at least one game are graduate students and battle tested, having played in one of the deepest conferences in ACC history and leading a team that went 7-8 against NCAA tournament regional hosts this year.
“Every single weekend is a couple of national seeds. Every weekend we’re seeing top arms and top hitters and playing at big stadiums, so we’ve experienced it,” said All-ACC freshman outfielder Jimmy Herron, who is hitting .328 from the leadoff spot. “We should be ready for really anything.”
Duke did not face any of the other three teams in its regional during the regular season but was able to watch archived games to scout its opponents since the NCAA tournament selection show Monday.
“There’s no substitute for seeing stuff with your own eyes,” Pollard said. “It used to be, you had to rely on folks to give you that information, and now it’s out there and readily available.”
Junior Ryan Foster will be on the mound against the Blue Devils Friday afternoon, entering the game with a 2.41 ERA and 12 wins—the most in the country. As is the case for the Blue Devils, sophomore hitting has carried UNC Wilmington's offense, with Brian Mims and Nick Feight doing the brunt of the damage.
Mims is hitting .367 with 13 home runs, and his 1.20 runs per game ranks fourth in the country. Feight—who hit .231 in limited action last year—leads the NCAA with 90 RBI and 171 total bases and is second nationally with 21 home runs.
“You’d like to think you’re pitching to those guys with nobody in scoring position and hopefully nobody on base,” Pollard said. “It always goes back to keeping the leadoff guy off the base.”
South Carolina (42-15)—which missed the NCAA tournament last year for first time in 16 years—won the SEC East Division this year and has four players batting better than .310. The Gamecocks are the heavy favorites to win this weekend's regional after outscoring opponents 349-219 during the season and going 30-4 at home.
Rhode Island (30-25) received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by winning the Atlantic 10 tournament last weekend. Fortunately for Duke, the Rams’ ace—Tyler Wilson, who is 12-1 with a 2.08 ERA—will start Friday night against South Carolina.
If the Blue Devils and Rams fall to higher-seeded opponents Friday, they will meet Saturday at noon, with the winners of Friday's games facing off Saturday at 6 p.m. The team that loses Saturday's first game will be eliminated, with the winner of the early Saturday game playing the loser of Saturday's night game Sunday at noon.
The victor of Sunday's first game will face the team that starts the weekend 2-0 Sunday at 6 p.m., giving the 2-0 team a chance to advance. If the 2-0 team loses that contest, the same two teams will determine the regional winner Monday at 6 p.m.
“I’ve always grown up watching playoff college baseball, and to be able to get a shot to do it in my freshman year is pretty awesome,” Herron said. “And we ended the whole drought that everyone’s been talking about, which is also very exciting.”
Hank Tucker contributed reporting.
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