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Duke Baseball: Blue Devils Close Out Regular Season in Georgia

By Kevin Connelly

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 23: Pitcher Nathan Kirby #19 of the Virginia Cavaliers delivers a pitch against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first inning during game one of the College World Series Championship on June 23, 2014 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 23: Pitcher Nathan Kirby #19 of the Virginia Cavaliers delivers a pitch against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first inning during game one of the College World Series Championship on June 23, 2014 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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It was a historic regular season for Duke Baseball and they concluded their final tune-up before postseason play against Georgia Tech over the weekend.

It was a hitters dream down in Atlanta, Georgia over the weekend as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets hosted the Duke Blue Devils in the final regular season series of the year.

The Yellow Jackets took the series 2-1 from the Blue Devils, but that could not put a damper on the Duke season.

On Thursday night Georgia Tech won 9-6 against Duke before exploding for 20 runs on Friday where they defeated Duke 20-7.

The Blue Devils were able to avoid the sweep on Saturday as they beat Georgia Tech 12-5.

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Duke finished the regular season at 39-14, 18-11 in the ACC.

The 39 wins overall and 18 wins in the ACC are both school records for the Duke Blue Devils.

In route to their record-shattering season, the Blue Devils had some major help from key contributors.

Griffin Conine, Ethan DeCaster, Jimmy Herron, and Jack Labosky were all named to the All-ACC Second Team. Joey Loperfido was also named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.

Conine was the big bat in the middle of the Blue Devils order, blasting 15 home runs and 48 RBI. Herron was consistently on base for Duke, posting a .293 batting average, but a .416 on-base percentage.

Loperfido led the Blue Devils in batting average, the only player north of .300, finishing the year at .307.

As for Jimmy Herron, he was a key player on both sides for Duke. At the plate, he hit .240 with nine stolen bases, but on the mound, he posted a 2-0 record with a stellar 0.87 ERA and nine saves in 20 appearances.

However, Ethan DeCaster one-upped Herron on the mound as he finished with a 5-0 record and a 0.63 ERA and five saves in 21 appearances. DeCaster also struck out 46 batters on the year.

Next up for the Blue Devils is the ACC Tournament starting on Thursday in their own backyard of the Durhan Bulls Athletic Park.

Duke will play Wake Forest on Thursday and Lousiville on Friday. First pitch of both games is at 11:00 A.M. E.T. The semifinals and championship will take place on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

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