Upcoming Event: Baseball at East Carolina on April 7, 2026 at 6 p.m.
Baseball
at East Carolina
2007 Duke Baseball Season Wrap-Up
6/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. ? The Duke baseball team wrapped up its 2007 season with a 29-25 overall record and an 8-22 mark in ACC play. The Blue Devils won 14 more games this year than the team won all of last season (15) and Duke's 29 victories marked the second-highest win total over the last 10 years and the sixth-best win total in school history.
The Blue Devils finished the season with a winning record for the first time since 1998. Duke won 15 of their first 16 games for only the third time in school history and ended the year with a 21-3 non-conference record.
Duke played best at home, winning 22 of 33 contests played at Jack Coombs Field, including a 16-2 mark against non-conference foes.
On the field, the Blue Devils improved tremendously in all aspects of the game. Duke finished the year with a .302 team batting average, marking the first time the Blue Devils have hit over .300 in the last 10 years. The 2007 team hit 33 points higher than last year's squad (.269).
Duke's 562 hits were 46 more than the team had a year ago and the most since 2002, while the Blue Devils scored 67 more runs in 2007 (347) than the team had in 2006 (280). Duke's 31 home runs were the most since the 2002 campaign and the team had 62 more RBI this year (322) than last year's total (260).
The Blue Devils had 116 doubles in 2007, up from 76 last year and the fourth-most in school history. Duke's slugging percentage (.430) increased 58 points, while on-base percentage (.380) was up 45 points and both were the highest over the last 10 seasons.
Duke drew 55 more walks (203) and struck out 72 fewer times (332) this year compared to the 2006 squad. The 332 strikeouts were the lowest since the 1997 campaign.
The team stole 69 bases on the year, 21 more than last season and the most since 1993 and Duke's .962 fielding percentage was the best since 1997.
Sophomore Nate Freiman led the Blue Devils at the plate, batting .369 on the season. Freiman also ranked first in hits (80), at-bats (217) and total bases (120) and tied for the team lead in home runs (seven) and RBI (48). He was second on the team in doubles (19), slugging percentage (.553) and on-base percentage (.435) and fourth in runs scored (36). Freiman's .369 average ranks tied for eighth on Duke's single-season list, his 80 hits are tied for 10th and his 19 doubles rank fifth.
Junior Jimmy Gallagher led the Blue Devils in runs scored (58), doubles (20), slugging percentage (.559), on-base percentage (.461), walks (38) and stolen bases (16), ranked second in batting (.360), hits (76), home runs (six), RBI (43), at-bats (211) and total bases (118) and was third in triples (two). His 58 runs scored tied for eighth on Duke's single-season chart, while his 20 doubles rank tied for fourth and his .461 on-base percentage is now eighth.
Senior Jonathan Anderson ranked first in sacrifice bunts (20), second in stolen bases (14) and runs scored (40), third in batting (.337), hits (64) and on-base percentage (.417) and fourth in at-bats (190). Junior Brett Bartles led the Blue Devils in triples (five), was tied for the team lead in home runs (seven) and RBI (48), third in doubles (14) and at-bats (191) and fifth in batting (.293). Sophomore Matt Williams finished fourth in batting (.308), freshman Alexander Hassan was third in runs scored (39) and fourth in RBI (37) and freshman Gabriel Saade finished third in home runs (five) and stolen bases (11) and fifth in RBI (36) and runs scored (34).
The Blue Devil pitching staff was one big reason for Duke's quick turnaround. The team ERA dropped from 7.04 in 2006 to 4.50 in 2007. Opponents hit 49 points lower (.275) this season compared to last year (.324). The Blue Devils also registered 12 saves, up nine from last year and tied for the most in school history.
Duke gave up 142 fewer hits, 147 fewer runs, 46 fewer doubles, 11 fewer triples and 21 fewer home runs. The team also struck out 11 more batters, while allowing 12 fewer walks.
Senior right-hander Tony Bajoczky anchored the Duke pitching staff, going 9-3 with a 3.22 ERA in his final collegiate season. He was named second team All-ACC, becoming the 13th Duke pitcher to earn all-conference accolades and the first Blue Devil since 2004 to be named All-ACC.
He ranked third in the ACC in opponent batting average (.222), tied for third in wins (nine) and starts (14), fifth in innings pitched (92.1) and 12th in ERA (3.22). In ACC games only, Bajoczky ranked tied for second in wins (six) and innings pitched (69.0), sixth in opponent batting average (.241) and 15th in ERA (3.91).
Bajoczky's nine wins rank tied for fifth on Duke's single-season wins list and his 3.22 ERA is the eighth-best single-season ERA since college baseball started using aluminum bats in 1974. His 14 starts in 2007 also rank tied for sixth on the single-season games started list. Bajoczky was named ACC Pitcher of the Week on March 26 and was named to the Roger Clemens Award watch list on May 8. The Roger Clemens Award honors the top pitcher in college baseball.
Bajoczky recorded wins over the top-three ranked teams in the country in three straight weekends, defeating No. 1 Florida State on March 31, No. 3 Virginia on April 7 and No. 2 North Carolina on April 14.
The Tallahassee, Fla., native finished his career ranked among Duke's career leaders in appearances (74 ? tied for seventh) and innings pitched (233.2 ? 15th). He also ranks among Duke's career leaders in saves.
Freshman closer Michael Seander led the bullpen effort, recording nine saves on the year. His nine saves rank second on Duke's single-season chart and tied for third on the career saves list. Seander was one of 40 relievers named to the midseason watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, which honors the top relief pitcher in Division I college baseball. Seander had a 1.61 ERA on the year, while opponents hit just .229 against him. He led the Duke pitching staff in appearances (28), ranked second in strikeouts (46) and sixth in innings pitched (50.1).
Sophomore Andrew Wolcott and freshmen Michael Ness and Will Currier had four wins apiece, while Anderson finished the year with three wins and three saves and Hassan had two victories. Ness, who was named ACC Pitcher of the Week on March 5, ranked second in appearances (23) and ERA (4.97), third in innings pitched (58.0) and fourth in strikeouts (41).
Anderson was third in appearances (19) and fifth in innings pitched (52.2) and finished the season with a 2.91 ERA. Hassan ranked second in starts (11), third in ERA (5.80), fourth in innings pitched (54.1) and fifth in strikeouts (34). Wolcott was second in inning pitched (62.0), third in strikeouts (42) and starts (10) and fourth in ERA (6.10) and appearances (17). Sophomore Kyle Butler also provided solid relief, finishing with a 2.92 ERA in 12.1 innings of work.
Duke will return 21 of 23 players in 2008, losing only Anderson and Bajoczky to graduation. The Blue Devils hope that the success the team had in 2007 under second-year head coach Sean McNally is just a sign of things to come.
“I am excited about our progress in all facets of our baseball program in the 2007 season,” McNally said. “Our general goal was to be collectively better in all phases of the game and I feel we accomplished this task in 2007. Our players worked hard throughout the year to continually improve and I am glad that they got some positive results. We will miss our two seniors Jonathan Anderson and Tony Bajoczky as they graduated from Duke on a high note, both in the classroom and on the field. Our returning players understand that we have much work to do in the development process and we are looking forward to productive summers for them playing baseball around the country in high level leagues. Certainly our progress in 2007 energizes our program for 2008 and beyond.”
-d-u-k-e-
Players Mentioned
P
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballIF / P
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballUT/P
/ BaseballOF/P
/ BaseballP
/ BaseballIF
/ BaseballP
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballP
/ BaseballDuke Baseball - Corey Muscara Opening Press Conference
Friday, June 27
Press Conference: Corey Muscara Introduction
Wednesday, June 25
Press Conference: Durham Super Regional Sunday
Sunday, June 08
Press Conference: Durham Super Regional Saturday
Saturday, June 07
