Duke baseball head coach Chris Pollard grabs milestone victory

Duke baseball head coach Chris Pollard landed a milestone victory on Sunday afternoon. 

It has been a rocky start to the Duke baseball season, but the Blue Devils saw an early memory present itself on Sunday afternoon in South Bend, Indiana.

In the third game of a series with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Duke (8-8, 4-5 ACC) was looking to head back to Durham with a victory instead of being swept as its head coach was stuck on 99 conference wins in his Duke career.

Head coach Chris Pollard handed the ball to junior Jack Carey, and the Summit, New Jersey native posted six shutout innings, allowing just one hit, walking one, and striking out four while Marcus Johnson (1) closed things out with three perfect innings of relief as the Blue Devils won, 2-0.

Duke’s runs came in the first two innings thanks to RBI from catcher Michael Rothenberg and left fielder RJ Schreck.

Rothenberg hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning to plate Ethan Murray while Schreck blasted a solo home run in the second inning.

Duke baseball head coach makes program history

The victory secured ACC win No. 100 at Duke for head coach Chris Pollard, becoming the first baseball head coach in school history to reach the plateau in the conference.

Pollard now holds a 253-185 overall record in Durham and a 100-119 mark in the conference.

The Blue Devils have made appearances in the NCAA Super Regional the last two seasons in which the event has been held, coming within one game of the College World Series in both instances.

Pollard arrived in Durham in 2013 via Appalachian State, where he posted an overall record of 244-210-1 and 107-119 record in the Southern Conference.

Overall, Chris Pollard is 497-395-1 as a collegiate head coach and has guided Duke to winning seasons in seven of eight seasons, making three NCAA Tournaments.