Completed Event: Baseball versus Murray State on June 9, 2025 , Loss , 4, to, 5
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Duke Baseball: 2016 Season in Review
6/27/2016 11:34:00 AM | Baseball
DUKE ENDS NCAA TOURNAMENT DROUGHT
Duke earned an at-large bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, ending a drought of 55 years without making the postseason event … The Blue Devils made their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and first since 1961 … Duke was one of 10 ACC members to earn a bid to the postseason, joining Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Virginia and Wake Forest.
DUKE'S SECOND HALF SUCCESS
After beginning the season 10-13 (1-7 ACC) the Blue Devils went 23-9 over their final 32 regular season games, including a 13-8 record in the ACC … During that span, Duke went 9-7 against Top 20 RPI teams while seven of Duke's nine losses came against ranked opponents ... During that stretch, Duke collected series victories over Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Pitt while posting a perfect 10-0 mark in non-conference play ... Duke did not lose to a team outside the top 35 in the RPI since April 23 ... The Blue Devils were No. 116 in the RPI after March 29 and rose to No. 26 entering the NCAA Tournament .
BLUE DEVILS IN THE ACC
The Blue Devils began the 2016 ACC slate 1-7 before posting a 13-8 mark over their final 21 league contests to finish seventh in the overall ACC standings and third in the Coastal Division ... Duke won five of its final seven league series ... Duke was picked to finish fifth in the ACC Coastal Division in the 2016 ACC Preseason Coaches' Poll .
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Duke relied heavily on its corps of talented underclassmen ... The Blue Devils did not featured a lineup with more than three upperclassmen this season ... Redshirt junior Jalen Phillips was the only Duke upperclassman to start at any position in the infield ... Duke did not start a single upperclassmen in the outfield all year ... The top seven batting averages on the team all belonged to underclassmen ... Despite its youth in the field, Duke started an upperclassman on the mound in all but one game this season.
IMPACT FRESHMEN
Three Duke freshmen have started 46 or more games this season: outfielder Jimmy Herron (.324), catcher Chris Proctor (.281) and shortstop Zack Kone (.272) ... Those three combined for 173 hits, 86 runs and a .293 batting average ... Both Herron and Kone were named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
HERRON TABBED ALL-ACC & FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA
Freshman outfielder Jimmy Herron earned second team All-ACC honors to become the first Duke rookie named All-ACC since Vaughn Schill in 1997 ... In addition, he garnered Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America accolades to become the 11th Blue Devil to collect freshman All-America distinction and first since Chris Marconcini in 2011 … Herron led the team in hits (67), doubles (22) and stolen bases (24) ... He also ranked second in the ACC lead in doubles and stolen bases ... Herron reached base safely in 52-of-56 games this season ... He also had more walks (29) than strikeouts (24) ... Herron also hit a team-best .417 (20-for-48) with runners in scoring position and owned .449 (40-for-89) average when leading off an inning.
HERRON ON THE BASE PATHS
Freshman Jimmy Herron led the team and ranked second in the ACC with 24 stolen bases ... He was 24-for-28 in stolen base attempts and swiped two bases in four games ... Herron's 24 stolen bases also tied for second all-time among Duke freshmen ... He was the fourth Duke rookie to swipe 20 or more bases and the first since Cass Hopkins in 1990.
THE BIG LABOSKY
Sophomore Jack Labosky earned second team All-ACC honors and was named a semifinalist for the Gregg Olson Award, presented annually to college baseball's breakout player of the year ... After recording just three extra base hits as a freshman in 2015, Labosky emerged as one of Duke's top hitters in 2016 ... He led the team in seven offensive categories: on base percentage (.421), runs (38), RBI (47), home runs (8), total bases (100), walks (32) and times hit by pitch (14) ... In addition, Labosky was third on the team with 23 relief appearances ... He owned a 1.53 ERA over 29.1 innings in relief and ranked second on the team with a 4.1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
BELLINGER AT THE PLATE
Sophomore Justin Bellinger led the team in batting average (.336) and slugging percentage (.571) ... He entered the starting lineup for good March 27 at Wake Forest and anchored Duke's lineup out of the cleanup spot with seven home runs, 10 doubles, 32 RBI and 28 runs scored ... Coming out of high school, Bellinger was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 11th round (No. 345 overall)of the 2015 MLB Draft.
PITCHING PROWRESS
Duke ranked fourth in the ACC with a 3.79 team ERA ... Pitching is a hallmark of Duke baseball over the past three seasons ... After finishing the 2016 campaign with a team ERA under 4.00, the program recorded its first three-season stretch of sub-4.00 team ERAs since 1969-71.
THE GRADUATES
Duke's main pitching rotation consisted of three graduate students: Kellen Urbon (7-2, 87.2 IP, 2.87 ERA), Trent Swart (4-3, 65.1 IP, 3.44 ERA) and Brian McAfee (7-5, 92.0 IP, 4.11 ERA) ... Those three started 43 of Duke's 57 games on the mound ... Urbon, Swart and McAfee own a combined 18-10 record and 3.49 ERA over 245.0 innings ... Duke's graduate student trio also accounted for all 19 of the Blue Devils' quality starts.
CORNELL COMBINATION
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 were key contributors, making a combined 28 starts and 36 appearances ... Those two combined for 13 quality starts and led the team in innings pitched at 92.0 (McAfee) and 87.2 (Urbon) innings ... Over their 179.2 innings, McAfee and Urbon posted a combined 3.51 ERA.
URBON MOVED TO FRIDAY NIGHT ROLE
Graduate student Kellen Urbon filled many roles for the Blue Devils, making 21 appearances and 13 starts ... Urbon led the Blue Devils in ERA (2.87) and opposing batting average (.228) and is tied with Brian McAfee for the team lead with seven wins ... He ranked 16th in the ACC in ERA (2.87), 15th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.60), sixth in WHIP (1.04) and third in walks allowed per nine innings (1.75) ... As a starter this season, Urbon owned a 5-2 record and 2.15 ERA.
McAFEE TOSSES THREE COMPLETE GAMES
Graduate student Brian McAfee was one of two ACC pitchers to throw three complete games this season, joining Virginia's Connor Jones ... McAfee threw complete games March 13 against then-No. 14 Virginia, April 10 versus then-No. 18 Clemson and May 8 against Gardner-Webb ... He exceeded 100 pitches in just one of his complete games, registering 108 against Clemson ... He threw 94 pitches in his shutout of Virginia and 90 versus Gardner-Webb.
LIMITING FREE BASES
Duke was the only program with two pitchers ranked among the ACC's top five in walks allowed per game ... Right-hander Brian McAfee led the league in walks allowed per nine innings (1.27) while fellow right-hander Kellen Urbon ranked third (1.75) ... McAfee established the Cornell program record, averaging 1.14 walks per game during his Big Red career ... He finished the year ranked seventh nationally among active players in career walks allowed per nine innings (1.18).
SWART AMONG TOP DUKE PITCHERS
Graduate student Trent Swart ended his collegiate career with a 3.09 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 owned a 17-17 record with 256 strikeouts over 285.1 innings ... He was the only Blue Devil pitcher to start over 40 games in his career and post an ERA under 3.90 ... Swart's total of 256 career strikeouts was good for eighth in program history, surpassing current Major Leaguer Chris Capuano.
McAFEE NAMED ACC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Graduate student Brian McAfee was named ACC Pitcher of the Week March 14 after tossing his first career shutout against No. 14 Virginia ... The Cavaliers entered the game as one of the top offenses in the ACC, but McAfee needed just 94 pitches – 72 for strikes – to keep Virginia off the board for nine innings ... McAfee scattered five singles, struck out three and did not walk a batter ... McAfee's shutout was the first by a Blue Devil since Drew Van Orden tossed a scoreless complete game May 22, 2014, against Georgia Tech ... In addition, McAfee was the third Duke pitcher under head coach Chris Pollard to register a shutout.
BULLPEN SUCCESS
Duke used a core group of seven relievers who have each made 15 or more relief appearances: sophomore Ryan Day (16 APP, 1.50 ERA), sophomore Jack Labosky (23 APP, 1.53 ERA), freshman Al Pesto (15 APP, 1.83 ERA), sophomore Mitch Stallings (27 APP, 3.23 ERA), redshirt junior James Ziemba (16 APP, 4.03 ERA) and senior Nick Hendrix (24 APP, 5.13 ERA) ... That group posted a combined 2.95 ERA over 146.1 innings with 13 saves ... In addition, Stallings led the team and ranked fourth in the ACC with nine saves.
DEVEILISH DEFENSE
Duke ranked third in the ACC in fielding percentage (.977) ... The Blue Devils have earned the reputation as a strong defensive program, posting a fielding percentage of .970 or higher in eight of the past nine seasons.
POLLARD REACHES 500 CAREER WINS
Head coach Chris Pollard registered his 500th career win Sunday, May 1 at NC State ... He owns a 508-418-3 record in 16 seasons as a head coach ... In addition, Pollard has posted a 123-98 record as the Blue Devils' head coach ... Pollard recorded his 100th win at Duke Tuesday, March 15 against UMES, becoming the fastest Duke head coach to reach 100 wins in program history ... He is also the first Blue Devil head coach to guide the team to three 30-win seasons in his first four campaigns.
DUKE RECORDS 3RD STRAIGHT 30-WIN SEASON
With 33 wins this season, Duke reached the 30-win mark for the third straight year, marking the program's first stretch of three-straight 30-win seasons since the Blue Devils compiled a run of seven consecutive 30-win seasons from 1992-98 ... Duke has now recorded 13 30-win seasons in program history: 2016 (31-21), 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 10 players selected in the MLB Draft over the past three seasons ... Junior RHP Bailey Clark was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the fifth round (No. 164 overall) of the 2016 MLB Draft, while graduate student RHP Brian McAfee was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 38th round (No. 1140 overall) and redshirt sophomore James Ziemba was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 37th round ( No. 1097 overall) … In addition, 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 … Under head coach Chris Pollard, 10 Blue Devil pitchers have been drafted, marking the program's highest total of pitchers drafted over a four-year span.
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