| GAME 1 | ||||||||||||
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| When: April 22, 2016 | 6 p.m. | ||||||||||||
| Where: Calfee Park | Pulaski, Va. | ||||||||||||
| Duke Starter: RHP Kellen Urbon | ||||||||||||
| VT Starter: LHP Kit Scheetz | ||||||||||||
| Follow: Tickets | Audio | Stats | ||||||||||||
| GAME 2 |
| When: April 23, 2016 | 5:30 p.m. |
| Where: English Field | Blacksburg, Va. |
| Duke Starter: LHP Trent Swart |
| VT Starter: RHP Connor Coward |
| Follow: Audio | Stats |
| GAME 3 |
| When: April 24, 2016 | 1 p.m. |
| Where: English Field | Blacksburg, Va. |
| Duke Starter: RHP Brian McAfee |
| VT Starter: TBA |
| Follow: ESPN3 | Audio | Stats |
| DUKE (21-17, 7-11 ACC) | ||||||||||||
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| Roster | ||||||||||||
| Coaches | ||||||||||||
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| Schedule & Results | ||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||
| VIRGINIA TECH (12-26, 3-15 ACC) | ||||||||||||
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| Roster | ||||||||||||
| Coaches | ||||||||||||
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| Schedule & Results | ||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||
| CONNECT | ||||||||||||
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LEADING OFF
Duke hits the road to take on Virginia Tech Friday-Sunday, April 22-24 ... Games are scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 5:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. ... Friday's contest will be held at Calfee Park in Pulaski, Va., home of the Pulaski Yankees ... Saturday and Sunday's games are located at English Field at Union Park on Virginia Tech's campus ... Duke has won 11 of its past 15 games and enters the weekend with a 21-17 (7-11 ACC) record ... The Hokies are 12-26 (3-15 ACC) ... The Blue Devil Network will carry an audio broadcast for all three games free of charge via GoDuke.com ... ESPN3 is set to broadcast Sunday's contest.
DUKE vs. VIRGINIA TECH
Duke and Virginia Tech have met 59 times in program history ... The Blue Devils lead the series, 34-25 ... Duke and Virginia Tech first met in 1907, a 13-0 Blue Devil victory ... Most recently, Duke won a 2015 series over Virginia Tech April 24-26 in Durham, N.C. ... The Blue Devils won the first two games by scores of 6-3 and 4-3 before the Hokies picked up a win in the finale, 11-3 ... The Blue Devils are 5-4 against the Hokies under head coach Chris Pollard.
DUKE'S RECENT SUCCESS
The Blue Devils have won 11 of their past 15 games entering the weekend ... Duke's four losses in that span all came against ranked teams ... Over the past 15 games, six Blue Devils are hitting .320 or better: Justin Bellinger (.375), Jack Labosky (.361), Jimmy Herron (.357), Zack Kone (.351), Chris Proctor (.345) and Peter Zyla (.320) ... As a team, Duke owns a .300 batting average of its past 15 games, 62 points higher than its average through the first 23 games (.238).
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Duke relies heavily on its corps of talented underclassmen ... The Blue Devils have not featured a lineup with more than three upperclassmen this season ... Redshirt junior Jalen Phillips is the only Duke upperclassman to start at any position in the infield this season and Duke has not started a single upperclassmen in the outfield all year ... The top eight batting avereages on the team all belong to underclassmen ... Despite its youth in the field, Duke has started an upperclassman on the mound in all but one game this season.
IMPACT FRESHMAN
Three Duke freshmen lead the team in batting average: Jimmy Herron (.321), Zack Kone (.310) and Chris Proctor (.306) ... All three have 95 or more at bats this season ... That trio is hitting a combined .313 (119-for-380) on the year.
HERRON ON BASE STREAK
Freshman Jimmy Herron has reached base in a team-best 12 games entering the weekend ... During that span, he is hitting .373 (19-for-51) with seven doubles, 12 runs scored and four stolen bases in that span while also recording a .467 on base percentage.
HERRON ON THE BASE PATHS
Freshman Jimmy Herron leads the team and ranks ?th in the ACC with 14 stolen bases ... He is 14-15 in stolen bases attempts and has swiped two bases in three games this season ... Herron's 14 stolen bases are also the most by a Duke freshman since Gabriel Saade totlaed 11 in 2007.
THE BIG LABOSKY
After recording just one extra base hit as a freshman in 2015, sophomore Jack Labosky has emerged as one of the top hitters in Duke's 2016 lineup ... Labosky currently leads the team in seven offensive categories: slugging percentage (.530), runs (24), RBI (34), doubles (15), home runs (5), walks (20) and times hit by pitch (7) ... In addition, Labosky is second on the team with 17 relief apppearances ... He owns a 0.84 ERA over 21.1 innings in relief and leads all Duke pitchers witha 6.3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
LABOSKY'S MONSTER GAME
Sophomore Jack Laboksy had a monster game Saturday, April 2 at Georgia Tech, going 4-for-5 with two homers, a double, eight RBI and three runs scored ... Only two ACC players have totaled more RBI in a game since 2013: Miami's David Thompson (9 vs. Georgia Tech, May 15, 2015) and Notre Dame's Jake Shepski (9 vs. Virginia Tech, March 24, 2016).
BELLINGER AT THE PLATE
Since entering the starting lineup March 27 at Wake Forest, sophomore Justin Bellinger has hit a team-best .375 (18-for-48) with five doubles, three home runs, 16 RBI, 12 runs scored and 13 walks ... He is slugging .667 during that 11-game span and has recorded a .516 on base percentage.
URBON, McAFEE JOIN BLUE DEVILS
After graduating from Cornell University with a year of eligibility remaining, graduate students Kellen Urbon and Brian McAfee enrolled in Duke's Fuqua School of Business and joined the Blue Devils for the 2016 season ... Both former Big Red right-handers have been key contributors, making a combined 24 starts and 30 appearances for Duke ... McAfee has served as Duke's Sunday starter, while Urbon makes the move to Friday night after starting two Saturdays and six midweek games ... Those two have combined for eight quality starts and lead the team in innings pitched at 61.0 (McAfee) and 52.1 (Urbon) ... Over their combined 113.1 innings, McAfee and Urbon have a 3.26 ERA.
URBON MOVES TO FRIDAY STARTER ROLE
Graduate student Kellen Urbon has filled many roles for the Blue Devils, making six midweek starts, two weekend starts and six relief appearances ... He makes his Friday night starter debut this weekend ... Urbon leads the Blue Devils in ERA (2.24) and opposing batting average (.219) ... Urbon enters the weekend ranked fifth in the ACC in ERA (1.88) and 10th in walks allowed per game (2.25).
| ACC ERA Leaders | |||
| Rk | Name | School | ERA |
| 1 | Pat Krall | Clemson | 0.84 |
| 2 | Jacob Stevens | Boston College | 1.17 |
| 3 | Drew Harrington | Louisville | 1.40 |
| 4 | Adam Haseley | Virginia | 1.60 |
| 5 | Danny Garcia | Miami | 2.08 |
| 6 | Brendan McKay | Louisville | 2.15 |
| 7 | Connor Jones | Virginia | 2.17 |
| 8 | Kellen Urbon | Duke | 2.24 |
| 9 | Michael Hearne | Notre Dame | 2.25 |
| 10 | Jesse Lepore | Miami | 2.31 |
LIMITING FREE BASES
Graduate student Brian McAfee leads the ACC in walks allowed per nine innings (1.48) and ranks third in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.30) ... McAfee set the Cornell career record, averaging 1.14 walks per game ... He also ranks eighth nationally among active career leaders in fewest career walks per nine innings (1.22).
| ACC Walks Per Game Leaders | |||
| Rk | Name | School | BB/GM |
| 1 | Brian McAfee | Duke | 1.48 |
| 2 | Connor Johnstone | Wake Forest | 1.51 |
| 3 | Michael Hearne | Notre Dame | 1.73 |
McAFEE TOSSES TWO COMPLETE GAMES
Graduate student Brian McAfee is the only league pitcher to toss two complete games in ACC play this season ... McAfee threw a shutout March 13 against then-No. 14 Virginia and allowed just one unearned run over nine innings April 10 versus then-No. 18 Clemson ... Notre Dame's Michael Hearne is the only other conference pitcher with two complete games this season ... In addition, McAfee is the third pitcher under head coach Chris Pollard to register a shuout.
| Duke Complete Game Shutouts Under Coach Pollard | |||
| Name | Opponent | Score | Date |
| Brian McAfee | No. 14 Virginia | 3-0 | 3/13/16 |
| Drew Van Orden | Georgia Tech | 6-0 | 5/22/14 |
| Robert Huber | No. 15 Georgia Tech | 3-0 | 4/7/13 |
| Robert Huber | Boston College | 6-0 | 3/30/13 |
SWART AMONG DUKE CAREER ERA LEADERS
Graduate student Trent Swart owns a 2.96 career ERA, good for third all-time at Duke and also the top Blue Devil mark since the beginning of the aluminum bat era in 1974 ... For his career, Swart owns a 14-15 record with 227 strikeouts over 252.0 innings ... He is the only Blue Devil pitcher to start over 40 games in his career and post an ERA under 3.90 ... Swart's total of 227 career strikeouts is good for 10th in program history.
| Duke Career ERA Leaders (Minimum 150 IP) | |||
| Rk. | ERA | Name | Years |
| 1. | 1.61 | Don Altman | 1960-61 |
| 2. | 2.42 | Al Schwartz | 1969-72 |
| 3. | 2.96 | Trent Swart | 2012-Present |
| 4. | 3.04 | Gordon Jackson | 1969-73 |
| 5. | 3.10 | Larry Brooks | 1977-80 |
POLLARD APPROACHES 500 CAREER WINS
With a 496-411-3 record in 16 seasons as a head coach, Chris Pollard is four wins shy of reaching 500 ... In addition, Pollard owns a 111-93 record as head coach of the Blue Devils ... Pollard recorded his 100th win at Duke Tuesday, March 15 against UMES, becoming the fastest Blue Devil head coach to reach 100 wins in program history ... He is also the first Blue Devil head coach to guide the team to two 30-win seasons in his first three campaigns..
IN SEARCH OF THIRD STRAIGHT 30-WIN SEASON
Duke must win nine of its final 17 games to reach 30 wins for the third straight season ... Should Duke reach 30 wins in 2016, it would mark the program's first stretch of three-straight 30-win seasons since the Blue Devils compiled a run of seven consecutive 30-win ledgers from 1992-98 ... With 31 wins this past season and 33 in 2014, the Blue Devils recorded back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 2008-09 ... Duke has recorded 12 30-win seasons in program history: 2015 (31-22), 2014 (33-25), 2009 (35-24), 2008 (37-18-1), 1998 (38-20), 1997 (33-25), 1996 (39-18), 1995 (30-27), 1994 (33-20), 1993 (39-19-1), 1992 (38-16) and 1952 (31-7).
BLUE DEVILS IN THE MLB DRAFT
The Blue Devils have had eight players selected in the MLB Draft over the past two seasons, marking the second-highest two-year total in program history (A school record 11 Blue Devils were taken from 2009-10) ... Five Blue Devils were selected in the 2015 draft: junior RHP Michael Matuella, senior RHP Sarkis Ohanian, junior RHP Kenny Koplove, senior RHP Andrew Istler and redshirt sophomore RHP James Marvel ... Duke's five selections in the 2015 MLB Draft marked the program's highest total since seven Blue Devils were taken in the 2009 MLB Draft ... In addition, Matuella and Ohanian became the first Duke teammates picked in the first 10 rounds of the draft since 2002 (Larry Broadway | 3rd Round & Kevin Kelly | 5th Round) ... Duke also had five pitchers taken in a single draft for the first time in program history.
| 2014-15 Duke MLB Draft Selections | |||||
| Name | Pos | Year | Rd | Overall | Organization |
| Michael Matuella | RHP | 2015 | 3rd | 78 | Texas Rangers |
| Sarkis Ohanian | RHP | 2015 | 9th | 265 | Cincinnati Reds |
| Kenny Koplove | RHP | 2015 | 17th | 504 | Philadelphia Phillies |
| Andrew Istler | RHP | 2015 | 23rd | 702 | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| James Marvel | RHP | 2015 | 36th | 1,087 | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Drew Van Orden | RHP | 2014 | 5th | 154 | Washington Nationals |
| Jordan Betts | 3B | 2014 | 18th | 554 | Boston Red Sox |
| Robert Huber | RHP | 2014 | 26th | 792 | Oakland Athletics |
DUKE EXPANDS PARTNERSHIPS WITH DURHAM BULLS
Duke renewed its agreement with the Durham Bulls to play home games at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, home of the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays ... Beginning in 2016, the contract renewal is a seven-year agreement that allows Duke to play up to 36 exhibition and home games at the DBAP each year ... The Blue Devils also gain a new, permanent locker room and clubhouse at the facility as well as coaches' office in Diamond View II ... Duke and the Durham Bulls began their original partnership prior to the Blue Devils' 2010 season ... Over the past five seasons, Duke has played 81 games at the DBAP, posting a 36-45 record at the venue during that span.
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