Duke Baseball: Recapping the Blue Devils Historic Season

It was a historic season for the Duke Baseball squad on the diamond and despite the season ending earlier than expected, it was still something people will remember for a long time.

Well, the season didn’t start off the way the Blue Devils wanted it.

Dropping two of three in the opening series to a high profile Vanderbilt team, Duke responded with wins in 15 of its next 16 games, reaching as high as No. 21 in the College Baseball Polls.

As the Blue Devils continued their roll in the early part of the schedule, a lot of eyes opened when Duke went down to Tallahassee and swept Flordia State in a rain-shortened series.

The Blue Devils entered the series at No. 14, while Flordia State came in at No. 12.

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After the two-game sweep, the Blue Devils cracked the Top-10 and No. 9.

Duke then stumbled, losing to No. 12 East Carolina and two of three to No. 4 N.C. State, the Blue Devils fell back to No. 13

The next series everyone had circled on the schedule was the No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels coming into Durham and Duke was able to take the first two games of the series from them, before dropping the finale.

Duke was able to crack the Top-10 once again at No. 10 but after losing the last series of the season to Georgia Tech, Duke ended the regular season at No. 17 in the polls entering the ACC Tournament.

The Blue Devils were then able to scratch a 6-2 win in the ACC Tournament against Wake Forest in 13 innings before losing to Lousiville in the Second Round, which knocked Duke out of the tournament.

Duke finished the season with a program record 18 ACC wins and they were on their way to their second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years.

To say it was a rocky start to the NCAA Tournament for the Blue Devils would be an understatement. Duke fell to Troy 6-0 in its first Tournament game and in the second game, the Blue Devils fell behind Campbell 8-1 before storming back in the last three innings to win 16-8.

The win against Campbell was Duke’s first NCAA Tournament win since 1961.

The victory also set Duke up with a rematch against Troy and the Blue Devils fell behind once again but would make another comeback to advance to the Regional Final against Georgia where Duke would have to knock off the Bulldogs twice to advance to the Super Regional as Georgia would only have to win one game.

The effort and resilience of the Duke Blue Devils would not be denied as they defeated Georgia 8-5 in the first game and 8-4 in a winner take all Game 7.

The Blue Devils were headed to the first ever Super Regional in school history and they would face Texas Tech.

Before Duke landed in Texas Tech, the 2018 MLB Draft took place and the Blue Devils were represented very well. Seven players were selected from the Duke Blue Devils, a number that tied a program record for the most draft picks in a season.

Griffin Conine, Jimmy Herron, Zack Kone, Ethan DeCaster, Chris Proctor, Jack Labosky, and Mitch Stallings were all of the Blue Devils selected in the MLB Draft.

All seven of those players would try and put that amazing accomplishment out of their mind for the time being as they would try and propel the Blue Devils to the College World Series with a series win over the Red Raiders.

The Blue Devils would narrowly drop the series opener to Texas Tech 6-4, as they then bounced back with a loud 11-2 victory to force yet another winner take all game. The score would not indicate how close this game was as Texas Tech defeated Duke 6-2, ending the Blue Devils season.

Duke finished with a school record 45 wins and left a lasting mark not only in the ACC but all across the country as Duke Baseball will a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

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