Duke Baseball 2021 ACC Champions

[chrishoke]

Great pitching dual going on right now in the super regionals. Mr. Rocker of Vanderbilt fame is besting ECU's undefeated ace Gavin Williams 1-0 in the 6th.

[chrishoke]

Rocker - who has a bit of the presence of a young Bob Gibson - is at 102 pitches through 7. Williams is through 7 at 105.

[jimsumner]

Great pitching dual going on right now in the super regionals. Mr. Rocker of Vanderbilt fame is besting ECU's undefeated ace Gavin Williams 1-0 in the 6th.

You may recall Rocker no-hitting Duke in the 2019 Super Regionals after Duke had won the opener and needed one more win to go to Omaha.

Or you may have suppressed the memory.

Anyway, he's about as fearsome as any college pitcher in a long time. A possible top pick in next month's draft. Very much to Williams' credit that he's giving his team a puncher's chance.

[chrishoke]

You may recall Rocker no-hitting Duke in the 2019 Super Regionals after Duke had won the opener and needed one more win to go to Omaha.

Or you may have suppressed the memory.

Anyway, he's about as fearsome as any college pitcher in a long time. A possible top pick in next month's draft. Very much to Williams' credit that he's giving his team a puncher's chance.

I still have nightmares about that game.

[jimsumner]

I still have nightmares about that game.

Vanderbilt's pitching is just so dominant. They consistently sign great high-school pitchers, the kind that get drafted early. They lose some of them but not all of them. And the ones that show up, they develop. They can make a compelling case that three years at Vandy will prepare you for the majors about as well as three years in the minors and get you at or close to a Vanderbilt degree.

Both Rocker and Leiter would have been high picks out of high school but both told major-league teams they absolutely were going to Vanderbilt. Don't waste a pick on me.

When you can point to pitchers like Walker Buehler, David Price or Sonny Gray, well prospects are going to listen.

And they're doing this in college-baseball's best conference, against large, state-supported universities, with much bigger fan bases and lower academic standards.

And they're also an example to schools like Duke that it can be done. Pollard is a fan of what they are doing and how they are doing it.

[chrishoke]

Vanderbilt's pitching is just so dominant. They consistently sign great high-school pitchers, the kind that get drafted early. They lose some of them but not all of them. And the ones that show up, they develop. They can make a compelling case that three years at Vandy will prepare you for the majors about as well as three years in the minors and get you at or close to a Vanderbilt degree.

Both Rocker and Leiter would have been high picks out of high school but both told major-league teams they absolutely were going to Vanderbilt. Don't waste a pick on me.

When you can point to pitchers like Walker Buehler, David Price or Sonny Gray, well prospects are going to listen.

And they're doing this in college-baseball's best conference, against large, state-supported universities, with much bigger fan bases and lower academic standards.

And they're also an example to schools like Duke that it can be done. Pollard is a fan of what they are doing and how they are doing it.

Certainly a program to emulate. By the way, Rocker won 2-0. Leiter pitches tomorrow.

[jimsumner]

Certainly a program to emulate. By the way, Rocker won 2-0. Leiter pitches tomorrow.

Imagine having a must-win game and seeing Leiter on the mound for the other guys.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

You may recall Rocker no-hitting Duke in the 2019 Super Regionals after Duke had won the opener and needed one more win to go to Omaha.

Or you may have suppressed the memory.

Anyway, he's about as fearsome as any college pitcher in a long time. A possible top pick in next month's draft. Very much to Williams' credit that he's giving his team a puncher's chance.

Glad to see Vandy baseball talk on the board 😂

In other Vandy baseball news, Jerry Stackhouse sang the national anthem before today’s game. And it was quite good. I felt confused after watching his performance.

[jimsumner]

FWIW, I talked to Pollard the other day. He thinks there's a 50/50 chance Duke keeps Mooney. He also thinks Duke won't lose as much to the draft as I had feared. Because the draft was truncated to five rounds last season, there are more good players this year than there are draft spots available. Lots of guys on lots of teams are going to have their feelings hurt and come back.

In other news, the SEC is really good. Arkansas is just mauling NC State. 7-1 in the fourth for those of you scoring at home.

[chrishoke]

FWIW, I talked to Pollard the other day. He thinks there's a 50/50 chance Duke keeps Mooney. He also thinks Duke won't lose as much to the draft as I had feared. Because the draft was truncated to five rounds last season, there are more good players this year than there are draft spots available. Lots of guys on lots of teams are going to have their feelings hurt and come back.

In other news, the SEC is really good. Arkansas is just mauling NC State. 7-1 in the fourth for those of you scoring at home.

We could sure use Mooney next year. NCS could use him this year.. 12-1 now.

[jimsumner]

We could sure use Mooney next year. NCS could use him this year.. 12-1 now.

Arkansas is the top overall seed for a reason.

[jimsumner]

It's 16-1 now. Elliott is going deep into his pen and these guys are showing why they haven't pitched much.

[roywhite]

Arkansas is the top overall seed for a reason.

21-2 final. Those NC State camouflage jerseys provided no protection against the shelling.

[CameronBornAndBred]

21-2 final. Those NC State camouflage jerseys provided no protection against the shelling.

Three TDs to a Safety. Ouch!

[chrishoke]

Another great pitching duel between ECU and Vandy in the Super regional - it's 0-0 after 4. Leiter has 8 Ks already for Vandy.

[chrishoke]

Vandy wins 4-1 and heads to the World Series. ECU now has the most tournament appearances without qualifying for the world series.

NCS has taken the lead 5-2 in the 4th against #1 Arkansas.

[chrishoke]

NCS will play tomorrow with a change to go to the WS.

[PackMan97]

21-2 final. Those NC State camouflage jerseys provided no protection against the shelling.

We were just setting them up for today.

Tomorrow we drop the hammer and punch our ticket to Omaha. It was all part of the plan. The old "Rope a dope"

[chrishoke]

Another great pitching battle in the superb regionals - Virginia and Dallas Baptist are are 0-0 after 7 and a half. If Virginia loses they are eliminated.

[Bob Green]

Virginia homers in B8 to take a 1-0 lead.