Completed Event: Baseball versus Murray State on June 9, 2025 , Loss , 4, to, 5
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Final
Baseball
4
vs Murray State
5
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Five Days That Changed a Program
6/4/2020 1:00:00 PM | Baseball
After qualifying for its first NCAA Tournament in more than half a century in 2016, the Duke Baseball team was entering uncharted waters. The Blue Devils were one of 64 teams with an opportunity to win a national title, but after a hard-fought loss to regional host South Carolina, Duke found itself out of the championship picture.Â
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Just like a child learning its way through the world, Duke Baseball was still trying to find its footing as a perennial contender in both the ACC and the national landscape, and like that child, the Blue Devils had to crawl before they could walk and ultimately walk before running. The 2016 team started the journey but what would happen two years later in Athens, Ga., changed the direction of a program.
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Fast forward to the 2018 season which would conclude as one of the best in program history. The Blue Devils posted a 45-18 record against a schedule littered with signature wins. So, when the time came for NCAA Tournament selections in late May, the question was not would Duke be playing, but rather, where?Â
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The answer? Athens, Georgia -- with the Georgia Bulldogs,  the No. 8 team in the nation as the host. Also joining the fray at Foley Field would be a pesky Campbell club and a Troy squad boasting one of the nation's best offensive lineups.Â
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Duke opened regional play with a 6-0 loss to Troy that will be remembered mostly for the seven hour weather delay.Â
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The next day, Duke and Campbell met for the third time after the Blue Devils won twice during the regular season fairly easily. But this game would be different ... much different. You probably know the story by now, Chris Crabtree laced a three-run double down the right field line to highlight an 11-run ninth inning and help Duke overcome an 8-1 deficit to keep its postseason hopes alive.Â
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Looking back, that hit by Crabtree might have been the defining moment of not only that regional, but perhaps, the turning point for the entire program. But more on that in a moment.Â
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Duke would beat Troy the next night as Crabtree again came up big with a pair of home runs, and Ethan DeCaster turned in a remarkable effort on the mound by hurling 4.1 innings to preserve the bullpen.Â
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The Blue Devils then defeated Georgia twice on Championship Monday with 8-5 and 8-4 victories, respectively. There are so many heroes from that day in particular -- Mitch Stallings certainly comes to mind for what he did in the title game by throwing seven brilliant innings (114 total pitches) on just two days rest. Griffin Conine hit a pair of home runs, and Zack Kone, Jimmy Herron and Kennie Taylor also went deep. In the end, that five-day, rainy stretch in Athens changed the national perception of Duke Baseball.Â
Â
Consider this -- the Blue Devils trailed Campbell, 8-1, and had only nine outs remaining in their season before a weather delay caused the players to come together and accomplish something bigger than themselves. Maybe it had to be that way -- maybe for a group who prides itself on being "Blue Collar", a slogan which has embodied the program since Day One of the Chris Pollard Era, that group of Blue Collar players who had to scratch and claw for so much were able to fight their way to the program's first appearance in a Super Regional.Â
Â
Circling back to Crabtree -- let's say he does not deliver the key hit in the ninth inning and the Blue Devils are eliminated by Campbell, the whole direction of the program is different. Sure, it is still a nice story as Duke enjoyed a great season but came up short, etc. Maybe that hit was the collective exhale from a group that needed something to lessen the pressure and allowed them to finally play as themselves.Â
Â
Regardless of what you think the defining moment of that regional is, there is no doubt that the 2018 version of Duke Baseball set the program on a trajectory that had not been seen in the modern age. And after another regional championship in 2019, it is fair to say the Blue Devils are turning themselves into a consistent contender for college baseball's promise land -- Omaha.Â
For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBaseball". You can also find all-access coverage of all Duke athletic programs on SnapChat by searching for "dukeathletics".
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#GoDuke
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Just like a child learning its way through the world, Duke Baseball was still trying to find its footing as a perennial contender in both the ACC and the national landscape, and like that child, the Blue Devils had to crawl before they could walk and ultimately walk before running. The 2016 team started the journey but what would happen two years later in Athens, Ga., changed the direction of a program.
Â
Fast forward to the 2018 season which would conclude as one of the best in program history. The Blue Devils posted a 45-18 record against a schedule littered with signature wins. So, when the time came for NCAA Tournament selections in late May, the question was not would Duke be playing, but rather, where?Â
Â
The answer? Athens, Georgia -- with the Georgia Bulldogs,  the No. 8 team in the nation as the host. Also joining the fray at Foley Field would be a pesky Campbell club and a Troy squad boasting one of the nation's best offensive lineups.Â
Â
Duke opened regional play with a 6-0 loss to Troy that will be remembered mostly for the seven hour weather delay.Â
Â
The next day, Duke and Campbell met for the third time after the Blue Devils won twice during the regular season fairly easily. But this game would be different ... much different. You probably know the story by now, Chris Crabtree laced a three-run double down the right field line to highlight an 11-run ninth inning and help Duke overcome an 8-1 deficit to keep its postseason hopes alive.Â
Â
Looking back, that hit by Crabtree might have been the defining moment of not only that regional, but perhaps, the turning point for the entire program. But more on that in a moment.Â
Â
Duke would beat Troy the next night as Crabtree again came up big with a pair of home runs, and Ethan DeCaster turned in a remarkable effort on the mound by hurling 4.1 innings to preserve the bullpen.Â
Â
The Blue Devils then defeated Georgia twice on Championship Monday with 8-5 and 8-4 victories, respectively. There are so many heroes from that day in particular -- Mitch Stallings certainly comes to mind for what he did in the title game by throwing seven brilliant innings (114 total pitches) on just two days rest. Griffin Conine hit a pair of home runs, and Zack Kone, Jimmy Herron and Kennie Taylor also went deep. In the end, that five-day, rainy stretch in Athens changed the national perception of Duke Baseball.Â
Â
Consider this -- the Blue Devils trailed Campbell, 8-1, and had only nine outs remaining in their season before a weather delay caused the players to come together and accomplish something bigger than themselves. Maybe it had to be that way -- maybe for a group who prides itself on being "Blue Collar", a slogan which has embodied the program since Day One of the Chris Pollard Era, that group of Blue Collar players who had to scratch and claw for so much were able to fight their way to the program's first appearance in a Super Regional.Â
Â
Circling back to Crabtree -- let's say he does not deliver the key hit in the ninth inning and the Blue Devils are eliminated by Campbell, the whole direction of the program is different. Sure, it is still a nice story as Duke enjoyed a great season but came up short, etc. Maybe that hit was the collective exhale from a group that needed something to lessen the pressure and allowed them to finally play as themselves.Â
Â
Regardless of what you think the defining moment of that regional is, there is no doubt that the 2018 version of Duke Baseball set the program on a trajectory that had not been seen in the modern age. And after another regional championship in 2019, it is fair to say the Blue Devils are turning themselves into a consistent contender for college baseball's promise land -- Omaha.Â
For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBaseball". You can also find all-access coverage of all Duke athletic programs on SnapChat by searching for "dukeathletics".
Â
#GoDuke
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