The Duke baseball team plays its final three games of the season from Thursday through Sunday, and they’ll be the most important three games of the 2024 season.
The Blue Devils welcome North Carolina, their bitter rivals, to Jack Coombs Field for a three-game series starting on Thursday.
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels never need any extra motivation to rip each other apart in any sport, but the battle sets up two of the best teams in baseball this season. The Tar Heels are 39-11 and No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, the highest-ranked team in the ACC. The Blue Devils sit close behind in 11th.
However, the postseason selection committee might not be as high on this Duke team. The Blue Devils lost a road series to Georgia Tech over the weekend, and Chris Pollard’s team has lost 16 games already this year. D1Baseball released a postseason projection on Wednesday, and the Blue Devils dropped down to a No. 2 seed in the latest model.
However, Duke paired with East Carolina, the 12th overall seed in the tournament, meaning the Blue Devils could be within striking distance of one of the top 16 spots. They definitely need a series win over the Tar Heels (they might even need a sweep) to jump back in line for a hosting gig, but a top-5 team like UNC offers plenty of opportunity to make a statement.
However, it seems Duke will need to make that statement without star pitcher Jonathan Santucci. The team announced earlier this week that the ace would miss a week or two with a rib injury on his non-throwing side.
Game one begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday, with Friday’s game starting at 6 p.m. and Saturday’s series finale starting at 1 p.m.