Duke baseball season ends with NCAA regional loss to Oklahoma
Duke baseball has called itself the “Road Dawgs” this season for its six road wins over ranked teams. The Road Dawgs did their best to pull off another on Sunday, but fell short.
The Blue Devils ended their season against No. 8 Oklahoma, losing, 4-3, in an elimination game at the NCAA Norman Regional.
Duke (40-20) trailed 4-1 after the seventh inning and pulled within a run on A.J. Gracia’s two-run home run. But Duke could draw no closer, allowing Oklahoma (39-20) to advance to play Connecticut later Sunday night in the regional final.
“It was an intense atmosphere and both teams made some great defensive plays and came up with some big swings,” Duke head coach Chris Pollard said. “That’s kind of what you’d expect. Two really good teams in an elimination game environment. I’m just really proud of our club. I’m proud of our team and I’m proud to be a part of this program.”
The Blue Devils wasted no time getting on the board. Second baseman Zac Morris led off the game with a standup double and crossed home plate when Gracia made contact for an RBI single.
Duke’s duo at the top of the lineup repeated its scoring ways seven innings later. Morris recorded a leadoff double before Gracia hit a two-run blast over the center field wall, cutting the Oklahoma lead to one run.
Those runs weren’t enough for the Blue Devils to upset the regional hosts and play for a spot in the Super Regionals — not after the pitching control issues.
They recorded six free passes, all before the fourth inning, and surpassed its free base total from Saturday. Two runners crossed home plate after drawing walks.
Duke didn’t give up any additional runs from free passes, but it made things more difficult on itself. The team finished with five walks and four hit batters.
In fact, Oklahoma fans in the partisan crowd yelled at Duke’s pitchers on Sunday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park, saying, “Stop hitting our batters.”
Charlie Beilenson, the fifth pitcher for Duke, was the only one who didn’t give up a walk or hit a batter. He threw for 2 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, one run and striking out four.
Even though Beilenson, a graduate student, knew what was on the line and saw his teammates struggle, he said his approach wasn’t different than usual.
“I tried to come in with the same mindset,” Beilenson said. “It was just, ‘I’m gonna go on the attack.’ In my head, I’m better than the guys I’m facing, and I’m gonna stick with that mindset. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around me. We call it white noise. There’s not much to it.”
Defensive struggles, in part due to field conditions, also didn’t help. The game was delayed two hours after a storm rolled into the area two hours before first pitch, though both teams experienced the impacts of heavy rain during play. The fully-turfed field became a slip-n-slide of sorts.
The Blue Devils gave up a base to OU’s Easton Carmichael, because the infielders slipped trying to make a play on the ground ball.
Morris attempted to field a ground ball up the middle in the sixth inning. Instead, he went sliding across the turf and Oklahoma’s Jackson Nicklaus took first base.
Despite a few miscues, the defense kept the Blue Devils from losing by a larger margin. The Sooners left nine runners on base thanks to timely defensive plays.
Gracia contributed a clutch leaping grab at the right field wall in the bottom of the second. His successful catch robbed Oklahoma of a home run and limited the Sooners’ scoring to two runs.
Left fielder Chase Krewson added a big play in the fourth inning. He fielded a flyout and made an on-target throw to catcher Alex Stone. The Buster Posey Award semifinalist tagged the runner out at home, ending the inning without any additional runs. He attempted a similar play in the seventh but his throw missed Stone, plating a run.
Duke believes it can leave Norman with pride. It is the second team in program history to reach 40 wins. It won the ACC championship and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The senior class boasts two titles and three postseason appearances.
Plus, it’s expected to return guys like Gracia and Krewson. Pollard hopes the Blue Devils will be a top 25 program again next season. Graduate catcher Chad Knight looks forward to seeing where the youngsters take the program.
“I think the biggest thing for me is, those guys are my brothers and they’re my family members,” Knight said. “To be on the other side of things, on my way out of college baseball, I could not be more excited for them,”
Oh, and maybe it’ll finally get to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, the same way the Duke softball team made it to Oklahoma City this year for the Women’s College World Series.
“The last big hurdle for us; we’ve obviously got a door to knock down and that’s Omaha. We’ve been really close three times out of the last five NCAA Tournaments,” Pollard said. “We’re just gonna keep showing up. We’re gonna keep showing up year after year and one of these times we’re gonna knock that door down.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2024 at 8:16 PM.
