Blue Devils Travel to Wake Forest for ACC Series – Duke University – GoDuke.com

DURHAM – The Duke baseball team hits the road, traveling to Wake Forest for a three-game ACC series over the weekend.

 

LEADING OFF

Duke travels to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest for a three-game ACC series. First pitch times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Duke holds a 138-163-2 record against Wake Forest, including a 30-72 mark in Winston-Salem. The two teams met last season in Durham, as Duke took the series 2-1 after dropping the opening game Friday. Head coach Chris Pollard, in his 10th season at Duke, holds a 12-11 record against Wake Forest while at Duke. The games will air on ACC Network Extra with Stan Cotten and Lary Sorensen on the call. Chris Edwards will broadcast on the Varsity Network app. Following the series, Duke returns home to host Campbell on Tuesday at Jack Coombs Field.

 

HOW TO FOLLOW

Friday, 6 p.m. – Varsity App (radio) – 

Stream 

– Live Stats

Saturday, 4 p.m. – Varsity App (radio) – 

Stream 

– Live Stats

Sunday, 1 p.m. – Varsity App (radio) – 

Stream 

– Live Stats

 

PITCHING MATCHUP

Friday:

Duke – RHP Marcus Johnson (1-5, 4.05 ERA)

Wake Forest – RHP Rhett Lowder (6-1, 2.25 ERA)

 

Saturday:

Duke – LHP Luke Fox (1-4, 7.18 ERA)

Wake Forest – LHP Josh Hartle (3-3, 5.62 ERA)

 

Sunday:

Duke – RHP Billy Seidl (2-2, 4.70 ERA)

Wake Forest – RHP Teddy McGraw (2-1, 4.97 ERA)

K’S FOR DAYS

Duke is one of two teams in the ACC to have its three weekend starters rank in the top-15 in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings. Junior Marcus Johnson leads the way for Duke ranking eighth in the ACC with 11.48 strikeouts per game, while junior Billy Seidl (10.27) and Luke Fox (10.05) are not far behind. The Blue Devils rank third in the ACC with 305 strikeouts as a team.

 

PAULEY’S LEADOFF BLASTS

Junior Graham Pauley recorded home runs in Duke’s first at-bat of the game in consecutive contests, against Liberty on March 29 and versus Miami on April 1. He became the first Blue Devil to hit a leadoff home run since Joey Loperfido at the 2021 ACC Championship. Pauley leads the program with six home runs on the season.

 

ALLEN THRIVING

Sophomore Josh Allen has been stellar recently for the Blue Devils. Allen, a native of Oviedo, Fla., has put together seven consecutive shutout appearances, allowing just six hits and three walks and striking out 18 in 10 innings of work. In ACC play, Allen has surrendered just one run in 7.1 innings of work out of the bullpen while fanning 11.

 

VET IN THE PEN

Graduate student RHP John Natoli has been strong out of the pen for the Blue Devils early this season. Natoli holds a 1.69 ERA in seven appearances, including a run of five consecutive scoreless appearances. Over the five-game stretch, Natoli allowed just three hits and four walks while striking out nine in 7.2 innings of work. 

K’S 4 KIDS’ CANCER

Duke has partnered with the Duke Children’s Hospital for the fourth consecutive season in the K’s 4 Kids’ Cancer campaign. Donors can pledge an amount of money to donate per strikeout that the Blue Devils pitching staff throws in 2022. The partnership has contributed over $30,000 in support of the Duke Children’s Hospital. Over the past four seasons, Duke has totaled 1,900+ strikeouts.

 

CRABTREE AND SCHRECK DINGERS

Graduate student Chris Crabtree and senior RJ Schreck have shown their power and look to continue it in the 2022 season. Schreck ranks tied for 14th in program history with 23 home runs while Crabtree sits tied for 18th with 20. Schreck leads the program with five this season.

 

DUKE X MORGAN’S MESSAGE

Duke Baseball and the non-profit organization Morgan’s Message teamed up during Saturday’s home game against North Carolina to bring awareness to behavioral health within the student-athlete community. The Blue Devils will don stickers on their batting helmets with the Morgan’s Message logo in addition to wearing bracelets with the organization’s mantra – “taking a shot at mental health.”

 

HIGHLY-TOUTED FRESHMAN CLASS

Duke’s incoming class of 12 freshmen and four graduate transfers was tabbed ninth by Baseball America, the highest ranked class in program history. Freshmen Alex Mooney, Jonathan Santucci and Devin Obee, who each rank in the top-50 freshmen nationally per Perfect Game. The Blue Devils were the lone school in the rankings with two players in the top 10 and three players in the top 50.

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