Tag: Virginia Tech Hokies

Duke baseball climbs two spots to sixth in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

After their first road series victory over Virginia Tech in more than half a decade, the Blue Devils are on the verge of the top five in the rankings.

The Duke baseball team is closing in on the top five in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

In the newest rankings released on Monday, the Blue Devils rose two spots to sixth in the rankings, just 43 points behind Kentucky for the fifth spot.

The jump follows a dramatic weekend on the road against Virginia Tech when Duke beat the Hokies in extra innings on Friday before overcoming a three-run deficit in the final three innings on Sunday. The Blue Devils hadn’t beaten the Hokies in Blacksburg since 2018.

Texas A&M, who is 35-5 for the season, remained atop the voting with 29 of 31 first-place votes. Arkansas and Tennessee came in second and third, respectively, with Clemson in fourth.

The No. 6 ranking is the same spot the Blue Devils finished at in the D1Baseball rankings published the same day.

After a Tuesday night game against Campbell, Duke welcomes No. 9 Florida State into Durham for a highly anticipated ACC battle.

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.

Duke rises to No. 6 in D1Baseball poll after first road series win against Virginia Tech in years

Duke keeps rising in latest D1Baseball poll, moving up to No. 6 after they took a ranked road series against Virginia Tech.

Duke’s weekend in Blacksburg was full of excitement as Duke won a road series against Virginia Tech for the first time in six years. Both Duke wins came with late-inning dramatics, as the Blue Devils fought back and won the game late.

For their efforts against a top-25 team, the Blue Devils saw themselves rise one spot to No. 6 in the latest D1Baseball poll.

Duke’s win puts them two games behind UNC for the Coastal Division lead as the Blue Devils enter the home stretch of the regular season.

At the top of the newest D1Baseball poll, the Texas A&M Aggies remain the nation’s number one team. Arkansas is second while the Tennessee Volunteers are third. Kentucky and ACC foe Clemson are ranked ahead of Duke at fourth and fifth, respectively.

East Carolina, Wake Forest, and Oklahoma State follow in order before Duke’s next ACC opponent, Florida State, slots in at 10th.

The rest of the ACC continues to be well represented in the poll, with Virginia and North Carolina ranked 14th and 15th, respectively, while NC State ranked 21st.

Duke will remain on the road for a midweek game against a tough Campbell Camels team before returning home for a top-10 weekend series against the Florida State Seminoles.

Duke baseball takes first road series against Virginia Tech in six years after three dramatic games

The Blue Devils trailed Virginia Tech by three runs in the series-deciding Sunday game after six innings but roared back to win the weekend.

Duke baseball has finally won a series in Blacksburg.

For the first time in six years, the Blue Devils won at least two games on the road against Virginia Tech. They made sure to do so in the most dramatic way possible, too.

Both of the first two games took extra innings. The Blue Devils lept out to a 5-2 lead by the middle of the fifth inning on Friday thanks to a litany of hits and a solo shot by second baseman Zac Morris.

Duke ace Jonathan Santucci exited the game after a single and back-to-back walks to start the fifth inning, however, and the Hokies smelled blood in the water. Owen Proksch took over on the mound and struck out his first batter, but he walked his second to plate the first run. The next two Virginia Tech hits drove home three more runs, including a 2-RBI single from centerfielder Ben Watson to knot the game.

Hokies catcher Henry Cooke mashed a two-run homer in the sixth to pull ahead 8-6, and Duke seemed destined to let a four-run lead slip away. Instead, however, Logan Bravo and Ben Miller each tanked a solo home run in the eighth and ninth inning, respectively, to force extra innings.

Miller got the last laugh in the top of the 11th, too, with an RBI single to left field that produced the winning run. Duke took game one 9-8.

The Saturday sequel offered a lot fewer offensive fireworks. Miller picked up where he left off with an RBI double in the third, his third RBI of the weekend, and Cooke squared the game with a sacrifice fly in the next inning.

No other runs came across in regulation.

In the bottom of the 11th, with the game tied at 1-1, Bravo lived through every player’s nightmare. With two outs, the Hokies’ Christian Martin grounded the ball harmlessly to Duke shortstop Wallace Clark. Clark scooped it up and fired the ball to Bravo, and it smacked into the first baseman’s glove just in time for the out.

And then it popped out.

Bravo stared at the ball in disbelief as David McCann, who had been on third base, walked across for the winning run.

Bravo got his redemption on Sunday, however. The Hokies took a commanding lead after a five-run third inning, and Duke trailed by three runs in the deciding game. The first baseman took down the Saturday demons with a three-run shot to left-center in the bottom of the seventh, pulling Duke into a tie game.

After centerfielder Devin Obee robbed a potential Hokies home run in the bottom of the eighth, Duke mashed two home runs in the top of the ninth to cement the comeback. AJ Gracia sent his second of the day over the wall before Obee added an exclamation point to his heroism.

As a team, the Blue Devils hit 10 home runs between Friday and Sunday’s victories.

Duke, now 28-11 for the year and 12-8 against ACC opponents, takes on Campbell on Tuesday before a three-game home series against Florida State.

WATCH: Duke’s Devin Obee robs Virginia Tech’s potential go-ahead home run in the eighth

The Hokies looked like they struck a winning blow in the bottom of the eighth, but Duke centerfielder Devin Obee scaled the wall to keep it tied.

Duke’s Logan Bravo already etched his own hero moment with a game-tying three-run homer against Virginia Tech on Sunday, but the Blue Devils weren’t done wearing their capes.

In the bottom of the eighth, with the game tied at 10 runs apiece, the Hokies’ Carson DeMartini smashed a ball to straightaway center field. With a runner already on first base, it seemed like Virginia Tech found the blow that could end the three-game series.

Duke centerfielder Devin Obee had other ideas, however.

The junior raced all the way back to the warning track, lept into the air, and snatched the ball before it had a chance to disappear over the wall. In an instant, the Blue Devils went from potentially down two to needing one more out to escape the inning.

Escape the inning, they did, as Duke snagged the third and final out of the eighth inning before any other runs crossed the plate.

The Blue Devils eventually won the game, 13-10, to clinch their first series in Blacksburg in six years.

WATCH: Duke’s Logan Bravo ties Virginia Tech game with three-run homer

The Blue Devils baseball team trailed the Hokies by multiple runs in the seventh inning, but Bravo squared the score with one mighty lash.

In baseball, there are clutch hits, and then there’s Logan Bravo against Virginia Tech on Sunday.

In the deciding contest for the three-game road series, Bravo took the batter’s box with the Blue Devils trailing by three in the top of the seventh. With runners on first and second and one out, the Harvard transfer had one job: keep the inning alive.

He did a lot more than that.

Bravo lashed at the first pitch he saw, an inside heater, and launched the ball over the left-center wall. The Hokies outfielders jogged after it for a second, but it became clear after just a few seconds that the ball wasn’t coming down.

Bravo pumped his fist and yelled as he rounded second base, and his teammates mobbed him as he returned to the dugout.

Commanders showing interest in Virginia Tech defensive tackle

Could the Commanders be looking for defensive tackle depth in the NFL draft?

For the first time in a while, the Washington Commanders have no Virginia Tech players on their roster. This offseason, Washington released starting tight end Logan Thomas and allowed starting cornerback Kendall Fuller and kicker Joey Slye to depart via free agency.

No Virginia Tech players are expected to be selected in the first few rounds of the upcoming 2024 NFL draft. However, defensive tackle Norell Pollard has emerged as a candidate to be chosen sometime on Day 3 of the draft.

According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston, several teams, including Washington, met with Pollard throughout the pre-draft process.

Pollard played five years for Virginia Tech, where he played in 61 games for the Hokies, with 48 starts. He finished his career with 118 tackles, including 22 for loss, 12 sacks and three forced fumbles.

In past years, the NFL would have considered Pollard undersized to play defense tackle, but that trend has changed. Pollard’s quickness and low center of gravity make him an intriguing NFL prospect.

The 6-foot-0, 283-pound Pollard earned a 77.7 grade from Pro Football Focus in 2023, including an impressive 86.6 pass-rushing grade.

Pollard will be an interesting name to watch on Day 3.

The Commanders have starters Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, with John Ridgeway and Phidarian Mathis as backups. But, this is a new staff with head coach Dan Quinn perhaps preferring less size and more quickness on the interior of the defensive line.

Duke moves up to No. 7 in latest D1 Baseball poll after five straight wins and a weekend sweep of Miami

Duke baseball back on the rise in latest D1Baseball poll.

The Duke Blue Devils have found their groove.

After a 4-0 week, the Duke baseball team has won its previous five games. If you look further past that, the Blue Devils won eight of their last nine baseball games.

Duke dominated Liberty midweek on the road 9-4 before returning to Durham and sweeping the Miami Hurricanes for the first time in Duke baseball history. They took care of Miami with some heroics, too, walking off the Hurricanes on both Friday and Sunday and overcoming a six-run deficit in the final game.

Duke enters week eight of the season after moving up two spots to No. 7 in the latest D1 Baseball poll for their efforts. They moved up two spots from ninth and are now knocking on the door to cracking the top five.

 

The rest of the ACC remains well-represented in the Top 25, as Clemson remains steady as the second-ranked team in the poll. Florida State is now the 10th-ranked team, while Virginia and UNC are 11th and 13th, respectively. Wake Forest, the preseason No. 1, has started to play much better and is back up to 14th. Virginia Tech rounds out the ACC’s involvement as they place 16th.

Duke closes out this four-game homestand with William & Mary on Tuesday and is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch. They return to ACC action next weekend with a three-game road series against the Pitt Panthers.

Duke softball makes program history rising to No. 1 in latest Softball America poll

Duke Softball is the new No. 1 team in the country.

After a crazy weekend in softball that saw the sport’s premier team, Oklahoma, lose a tough series to its fiercest rival, Softball America has a new number-one squad, and it resides in Durham, North Carolina.

That’s correct; the Duke Blue Devils are the No. 1 softball team in the country, according to Softball America’s latest poll.

Duke’s ascension to number one marks the first time this season that a team other than Oklahoma has topped SA’s poll. It also marks the first time in Duke softball’s short history that it has been ranked as a number one team.

Duke entered last week as the No. 2 team, and after beating UNC-Charlotte 6-1 in a midweek matchup and sweeping their Tobacco Road rivals, UNC, Duke is now the nation’s top team.

Oklahoma has an early season win over Duke, but things have changed for both programs since that game.

Duke is joined by Virginia Tech (16), Florida State (20), Virginia (24), and Clemson (25) as the ACC accounts for 20% of the poll.

Duke returns to action this week when it travels to Greenville, N.C., for a non-conference matchup with East Carolina. The first pitch is slated for 5 p.m. at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium.

Aminah Vega named NCAA Player of the Week after nine-RBI series against Virginia Tech

After three doubles, three home runs, and nine RBIs in a three-game sweep of Virginia Tech, Aminah Vega was named NCAA Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Duke infielder Aminah Vega racked up the accolades on Tuesday as she was named the NCAA Player of the Week for her efforts against Virginia Tech.

In a three-game sweep of the Hokies, Vega tallied seven hits in 10 at-bats, driving in nine runs. She laced three doubles and powered three home runs over the wall, giving the sophomore a slugging percentage of 1.900 for the weekend.

Vega’s biggest hero moments came in the series-deciding Friday victory. With the Blue Devils facing a four-run deficit after the top of the first, Vega hit a pair of two-run home runs to tie the game by the fifth inning, her first ever game with multiple home runs. She also doubled in the bottom of the seventh, putting the eventual winning run on third base.

The second-year infielder is now batting .414 on the season with 12 doubles and eight home runs. She’s now batted in multiple runs in 11 games, including each of her last four.

The announcement came hours after Vega was named ACC Player of the Week.