The 2024 Duke Blue Devils baseball team will live to play another day after they survived an elimination game in the Norman Regional on Saturday afternoon, beating Oral Roberts 6-2.
Friday was a bit of shell shock for the Blue Devils, who came into the NCAA Tournament red-hot, especially offensively. After a 16-run performance against Florida State in the ACC Tournament title game, Duke only managed one run on Friday against Big East regular-season champion Connecticut.
UCONN used some situational hitting and terrific pitching to put Duke away 4-1 and force Duke into the loser’s bracket. In a double-elimination system, the Blue Devils woke up knowing they’d be heading back to Durham by nightfall if they didn’t win.
Staff ace Jonathan Santucci received the start against Oral Roberts and pitched for the first time since he was injured in the regular season. He didn’t go long for obvious reasons, as he had been out for a little while, and Duke didn’t want to over-extend him.
He only pitched two innings but gave up no runs while striking out four and walking two. He escaped a jam to keep the scoreboard blank while his offense continued to find its footing.
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James Tallon came on to handle the third inning and did so smoothly. He gave up no hits and didn’t walk anyone. In the top of the fourth, Duke finally broke through on a Devin Obee RBI single to score Alex Stone. The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead.
Talented two-way freshman Kyle Johnson relieved Tallon in the bottom of the fourth and started the first of three innings. In the top of the sixth, Duke hit the gas to separate themselves from the Golden Eagles. Alex Stone led off with a double and scored on a one-out double from Chase Krewson. Wallace Clark made sure he made it home after he doubled to the left-center gap to make it 3-0 Duke.
Jimmy Evans connected on a two-run homer for his only hit of the afternoon to make it 5-0 for the Blue Devils in the sixth. ORU would respond with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but Duke quelled any other threats. Devin Obee smoked a solo home run for insurance in the top of the eighth, and Charlie Beilenson nailed down the final inning to end Oral Roberts’ season.
Duke’s bounceback couldn’t have been better, as they needed all hands on deck to make this work. The Blue Devils will play on Sunday afternoon in yet another elimination game. The loser of Oklahoma vs. UCONN will have their backs pushed up against the wall and face elimination. That game will start at 2 p.m. local time and be broadcast on ESPN +.