Duke Baseball

[devildeac]

Duke sweeps, 8-6. 15-9 in the ACC. Awesome. We own the big 4.

Our State.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Our State.

Baseball school.

[roywhite]

Five Home Runs Power Duke Past Wake Forest

“We just kept playing,” Pollard said. “We didn’t back down from the moment. We didn’t panic. We didn’t press. The park’s been playing small all weekend. Marconcini was due for an at bat like that. I’m proud of him. He had good at bats yesterday and came up with the really big one today. Deitrich’s seeing the ball well. I told our guys we would probably hit a lot of home runs if we played here on a regular basis. The guys are very comfortable. They see the ball well and really drove the baseball.”

Duke returns to action next Sunday, May 4, hosting Longwood in a non-conference series. The Blue Devils and Lancers are set for a Sunday doubleheader before meeting a third time Monday.

[burnspbesq]

Duke is up to fourth overall in the ACC.

[Olympic Fan]

Our State.

well, in this school year in the three major sports:

-- Duke is 3-0 against UNC, NC State and Wake in football. Duke finished as the Big Four's top team in the ACC standings and was the state's only ranked team.

-- Duke is 3-2 against UNC (1-1), Wake Forest (1-1) and NC State (1-0) in basketball. Duke and UNC are tied for third in the ACC, ahead of State and Wake. Duke finishes as the state's top-ranked team in the final AP poll.

-- Duke is 8-1 against UNC (3-0), Wake (3-0) and NC State (2-1) in baseball. Duke currently has the best record of the four in the ACC -- although no Big Four teams are currently ranked.

Our state, indeed -- at least this year.

[jimsumner]

well, in this school year in the three major sports:

-- Duke is 3-0 against UNC, NC State and Wake in football. Duke finished as the Big Four's top team in the ACC standings and was the state's only ranked team.

-- Duke is 3-2 against UNC (1-1), Wake Forest (1-1) and NC State (1-0) in basketball. Duke and UNC are tied for third in the ACC, ahead of State and Wake. Duke finishes as the state's top-ranked team in the final AP poll.

-- Duke is 8-1 against UNC (3-0), Wake (3-0) and NC State (2-1) in baseball. Duke currently has the best record of the four in the ACC -- although no Big Four teams are currently ranked.

Our state, indeed -- at least this year.

Wouldn't Duke have been 2-0 against NC State? Or are you not counting the ACC Tournament?

[Olympic Fan]

Wouldn't Duke have been 2-0 against NC State? Or are you not counting the ACC Tournament?

I did overlook that game in the tournament ... but it only reinforces the point that Duke has dominated the Big Four in the three major sports this season.

As for baseball, I was looking at the standings:

1. Miami 19-6
2. Virginia 18-6
3. FSU 17-7
4. Duke 15-9
5. UNC 13-11
6. Clemson 12-11
7. (tie) Georgia Tech 12-12
Wake Forest 12-12
9. Pitt 9-12
10. Maryland 9-14
11. NC State 9-15

While Duke -- with six more tough games remaining (three vs. Miami at the DBAP; three at FSU) -- still has work to do to lock up a spot in the top six (and a bye into the round-robin part of the tournament), I think it's a virtual lock that Duke will finish in the top 10 and thus make the tournament field (7-10 have to play in two one-game sudden death play-in games).

[Duvall]

I did overlook that game in the tournament ... but it only reinforces the point that Duke has dominated the Big Four in the three major sports this season.

As for baseball, I was looking at the standings:

1. Miami 19-6
2. Virginia 18-6
3. FSU 17-7
4. Duke 15-9
5. UNC 13-11
6. Clemson 12-11
7. (tie) Georgia Tech 12-12
Wake Forest 12-12
9. Pitt 9-12
10. Maryland 9-14
11. NC State 9-15

While Duke -- with six more tough games remaining (three vs. Miami at the DBAP; three at FSU) -- still has work to do to lock up a spot in the top six (and a bye into the round-robin part of the tournament), I think it's a virtual lock that Duke will finish in the top 10 and thus make the tournament field (7-10 have to play in two one-game sudden death play-in games).

Isn't it an actual lock that Duke will finish in the top 10 at this point? I don't know what the tiebreaker is with NC State, but I can't imagine that a sweep in the season series doesn't give it to Duke.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Isn't it an actual lock that Duke will finish in the top 10 at this point? I don't know what the tiebreaker is with NC State, but I can't imagine that a sweep in the season series doesn't give it to Duke.

I thought so too. I can't find it, but I swear I saw an article today that said Duke clinched its first tourney birth since 2009.

[burnspbesq]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colle...-usat/2014/10/

[pfrduke]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colle...-usat/2014/10/

And, perhaps to put a finer point on it, others receiving more votes than the Tar Heels.

[roywhite]

And, perhaps to put a finer point on it, others receiving more votes than the Tar Heels.

And more votes than our old friend, the Mercer Bears.

[Olympic Fan]

I'm still scrambling to find out if Duke has a chance to climb into contention for an at large NCAA bid and from what little I can find, it doesn't look good. I've seen a couple of mock fields and none of them include Duke.

The RPI is even more disappointing. I found the official NCAA site, but it hasn't been updated yet this week. But the April 22 listing had Duke at No. 90.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/baseball/d1/rpi

I did find this RPI site that has been updated through today:

http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html

It claims to almost exactly match the official RPI. But while it does track within a point for every other ACC school, last week (when Duke was officially No. 90) they had Duke at No. 67.

This week, they have Duke at No. 61, which is an improvement -- at least until you look and see that is still behind No. 1 Virginia, No. 5 FSU, No. 18. Miami, No. 33 Georgia Tech, No. 37 Maryland, No. 43 UNC, No. 47 Clemson and just ahead of No. 65 NC State.

Obviously Duke has a chance to improve with three games coming up with No. 5 FSU and three with No. 18 Miami, plus whatever they get in the ACC Tournament ... still if RPI means as much to the NCAA Baseball Selection Committee as it does to the Basketball Selection Committee, it doesn't look good.

[DU82]

I'm still scrambling to find out if Duke has a chance to climb into contention for an at large NCAA bid and from what little I can find, it doesn't look good. I've seen a couple of mock fields and none of them include Duke.

The RPI is even more disappointing. I found the official NCAA site, but it hasn't been updated yet this week. But the April 22 listing had Duke at No. 90.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/baseball/d1/rpi

I did find this RPI site that has been updated through today:

http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html

The official NCAA site was updated, presumably this afternoon after you posted. It has Duke at 61.

I don't quite understand Boyd's system, especially distances between schools. I checked for a couple of schools of interest to me, and found that NCSU is about 250 miles away, and UNCheat 154 miles from Duke. Wagner, in Staten Island, is 269 miles from Manhattan and 197 from Columbia.

I like that the site lists potential opponents within driving distance, since that's what usually happens for mid-week games. But not sure what his system means.

[Reilly]

Why is college baseball not followed to a larger degree?

What's more popular: MLB or the NBA?

Isn't it nuts that Selection Sunday - March Madness - the Bubble - RPI - yada yada dominate our thoughts every late winter, yet OlyFan has to go searching for similar type stats with respect to baseball?

I mean, on any given night, MLB teams will draw 25-30K, more than what an NBA team will draw on any given night. I don't know their respective TV ratings/popularity.

It seems college baseball has really become a lot more popular and televised in the last 10 years ... but why does it still lag so far behind hoops?

Is it partly b/c the colleges were not the primary feeders to the majors for many years?

[wilson]

FWIW, "College Sports Madness" (I make no claims as to the general trustworthiness or relevancy of their work) has Duke in their latest projected NCAA baseball tournament field, in the Louisville regional alongside future conference mates Louisville, recent SEC power Vanderbilt, and Evansville, of used-to-wear-weird-purple-tshirts-as-basketball-uniforms fame. If I'm not mistaken, an NCAA tourney bid would be the first in our baseball program's history.
http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/...l/bracketology

[CameronBornAndBred]

FWIW, "College Sports Madness" (I make no claims as to the general trustworthiness or relevancy of their work) has Duke in their latest projected NCAA baseball tournament field, in the Louisville regional alongside future conference mates Louisville, recent SEC power Vanderbilt, and Evansville, of used-to-wear-weird-purple-tshirts-as-basketball-uniforms fame. If I'm not mistaken, an NCAA tourney bid would be the first in our baseball program's history.
http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/...l/bracketology

As with football, we held our own back in the 50's and early 60's. Each of the three times Duke went to the college world series, they took 5th place. (Last time was in '61)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Blue_Devils_baseball

[CameronBornAndBred]

There is an article on WRAL about the team. The recent success comes down to a change of culture, which of course worked really well for the football team, too. (And according to the article, the Blue Devils have indeed clinched a spot in the ACC tourney.)

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke-ba...ange/13605686/

[wilson]

As with football, we held our own back in the 50's and early 60's. Each of the three times Duke went to the college world series, they took 5th place. (Last time was in '61)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Blue_Devils_baseball

Some really interesting material in there. I had forgotten that Duke did once play in the NCAA tournament (although the spirit of my above post remains; it's been 53 years). I also had no idea that Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter was Duke's head baseball coach for about a decade.

[sagegrouse]

Some really interesting material in there. I had forgotten that Duke did once play in the NCAA tournament (although the spirit of my above post remains; it's been 53 years). I also had no idea that Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter was Duke's head baseball coach for about a decade.

Ace Parker was the baseball coach the last year Duke went to the College World Series. Ace, as in college and pro football Hall of Fame, as in ML baseball player, as in home run in his first ML at-bat.