Tag: Duke Blue Devils baseball

Duke baseball stays in top 10 in latest coaches poll

Duke baseball slipped three spots but remained in the top 10 of the latest USA TODAY Sports college baseball coaches poll. The Blue Devils dropped from No. 6 to No. 9 in the newest poll after dropping two of three against Florida State.

Duke baseball slipped three spots but remained in the top 10 of the latest USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll.

Duke dropped from No. 6 to No. 9 in the newest poll after it dropped two out of three against a ranked Florida State team. The Blue Devils are now 30-14 on the season and 14-10 in ACC play.

Duke dropped its first two games against the Seminoles before run-ruling them in the third game, 16-4.

Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Tennessee completed an all-SEC top three. The Blue Devils’ tumble made them the third-highest-ranked ACC team behind FSU, who took Duke’s former spot at No. 6, and No. 4 Clemson.

Duke will take on Longwood in a two-game series before a top-10 matchup against No. 5 East Carolin this coming weekend.

Duke baseball alum Joey Loperfido called up by Houston Astros; set to make MLB debut

Duke baseball alum Joey Loperfido set to make MLB debut for the Houston Astros.

The Houston Astros have played horrific baseball to start the 2024 season, and now, with their backs against the wall and in desperate need of a spark, the Astros are looking to a former Duke baseball alum.

Former Blue Devils Joey Loperfido got called up to make his MLB debut on Tuesday when the Astros host the AL’s best team, the Cleveland Guardians.

Loperfido leads all minor league baseball with 13 home runs, including a solo bomb he smashed during his final game with the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys on Sunday. He finished the game 2-for-3, raising his OPS to 1.106 after 101 at-bats during a remarkable April.

Loperfido may not be a seasoned first baseman, but he’s had enough reps there, playing in seven games in Triple-A. His time in Durham saw him as an outfielder, so he also offers the Astros versatility defensively.

 

Houston drafted Loperfido out of Duke in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. At Duke, Loperfido started all 170 games he appeared in during his time with the Blue Devils. In his four years at Duke, Loperfido posted a .317 career batting average, collecting 201 hits, 37 doubles, nine triples, 18 home runs, and tallying 96 RBI. He drew 85 walks and held a slugging percentage of .488, adding an on-base percentage of .419. In the field, Loperfido posted a career fielding percentage of .992

Last season, he won the Astros’ Minor League Player of the Year award after slashing .278/.370/.510 with 55 extra-base hits across three levels of affiliated ball. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked him as Houston’s sixth-best prospect before the season started.

The Astros are still led by the same core, which has helped them win two World Series: Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman. However, the rest of the lineup needs a spark.

Already ten games below .500 and six games back in the American League West, the Astros can’t rely on Jose Abreu much longer as he’s become one of the worst offensive players in the league to start the season.

The game starts Tuesday at 7:10 CT / 8:10 ET at Minute Maid Park and can be seen on MLB.TV.

Duke pitcher Charlie Beilenson named ACC Pitcher of the Week

Duke pitcher Charlie Beilenson named ACC Pitcher of the Week.

Duke pitcher Charlie Beilenson was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week on Monday.

The Blue Devils reliever went 2-0 and added a save in three appearances, and he did not allow any earned runs across 6.2 innings on the mound. Beilenson kept batters guessing, racking up 10 strikeouts in his three outings.

Against Virginia Tech on Friday, he pitched a season-high four innings, allowed just one hit, and struck out five Hokies. He did not allow a hit in his other two outings this past week, including a perfect inning during Sunday’s deciding game.

The Blue Devils won all three games he pitched in, once against Gardner-Webb and twice against Virginia Tech as they won the series.

Duke’s three wins last week moved the Blue Devils to 29-11 for the year and 13-8 in ACC play. D1Baseball had the team sixth in their latest ranking.

The streak is over, Notre Dame Baseball loses series opener to Duke

The Irish will try to start a new winning streak tomorrow

The Irish haven’t lost since the end of March but the host Duke Blue Devils wanted to make the Irish feel defeat in April and that’s exactly what happened. In game one of the three game ACC conference battle, the home team took it to the Irish, defeating the visitors 15-5.

It was one that the Irish would like to have back as starting pitcher Will Mercer struggled out of the gate. He gave up three runs in the first inning, the only one he would pitch in, then Radek Birkholz also gave up three, one of them unearned, and the Irish had an early 6-0 hole to dig out of.

The Irish would battle back to get within two runs after their four run fifth, but would score just once more as Duke kept piling on the runs. Link Jarrett has switched up his starters and with a Thursday start, he went with Mercer, a move he might be regretting this evening as the nine-game winning streak came to an end.

Fortunately for the Irish, game two of the series will have ace John Michael Bertrand on the mound as they look to start a new winning steak. Notre Dame still holds a fantastic 21-6 record, but have had their struggles in-conference this season, just 8-6 so far. They look to change that tomorrow as first pitch is set for 6pm EST.

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