Murray State shocks Duke baseball, forces winner-take-all super regional game
It’s on to another super regional showdown for Duke baseball.
As the Blue Devil bullpen struggled in Game 2 of the NCAA super regional, Murray State took advantage, tying the series up with a 19-9 win Sunday at Jack Coombs Field.
Despite a five-run sixth inning for Duke to cut its deficit to two, the Racers pieced together nine runs in the seventh to take back the momentum, forcing the Blue Devils to go eight pitchers deep in their bullpen.
“One of the big things that we’ve got to make sure of is [Murray State’s] going to get their hits,” Duke coach Chris Pollard said. “We talked about that going into the series. We can’t stack free bases with it. Early on, we gave them some free bases to go long with those hits. And that’s when a single-run inning, like you saw yesterday, can turn into a big inning.”
Duke (41-20) will face Murray State (43-15) in a winner-take-all game on Monday at 7 p.m. for one last chance to clinch a berth into the College World Series and end a 64-year drought.
“We work to make sure we didn’t extend anybody in this ball game past the point where they could[n’t] come back tomorrow,” Pollard said. “So, we’ve got a rested bullpen with our two best relievers ready to roll. We’re in a good spot.”
AJ Gracia returned to the lineup in fiery fashion. The sophomore centerfielder sat out Saturday for a one-game suspension as a result of an ejection in Duke’s 3-2 regional championship victory over Oklahoma State. On the first pitch, Gracia immediately cranked a home run over the center field wall.
Graduate third baseman Ben Miller followed it up with another solo homer, almost in the same location, to put the Blue Devils up, 2-0.
Game 1 standout Kyle Johnson — who had five RBI and a career-high four hits and replaced Gracia in the lineup on Saturday — took the mound for only his second start since February. The sophomore earned the start out of the pen for the first time in four months in the 6-3 win over Georgia at the Athens Regional. Before that, Johnson appeared for no more than two innings.
Murray State’s Jonathan Hogart sent Johnson’s first pitch deep over the wall in left field for a home run. Then, after giving up a single and a pair of walks, back-to-back RBI hits from Luke Mistone and Will Vierling gave Murray State a 3-2 lead.
Carson Garner nailed a two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning giving Murray State a 5-2 lead before Duke’s Wallace Clark responded with third-inning home run to decrease Murray State’s lead to 5-3.
Junior right-handed pitcher Gabe Nard relieved Johnson after 69 pitches. Johnson ended the afternoon after giving up six hits, five runs and three walks while dealing four strikeouts.
Murray State padded its lead with five more runs in the fourth off of four hits.
After a stretch of silent innings, Duke graduate third baseman Ben Rounds snagged a sixth-inning double into the left corner to score two for the Blue Devils, finally ending the day for Murray State starting pitcher Isaac Silva after 84 pitches and five and one-third innings. A wild pitch scored Rounds followed by a two-run homer from sophomore catcher Macon Winslow to leave the Racers with a 10-8 lead.
Duke was unable to keep the Racers at bay. Murray State took back momentum with a nine-run seventh inning, adding runs on a bases-loaded walk, followed a pair of two RBI singles before a pair of two-run homers by Dan Tauken and Connor Cunningham.
“We’ve got to do a better job of minimizing the damage,” Pollard said. “We had opportunities right there to get off the field without those extra runs crossing. Somebody’s just got to step up and make a pitch in that situation.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2025 at 3:42 PM.