Tag: Zac Morris

Charlie Beilinson and Zac Morris named NCBWA All-Americans

Two of Duke baseball’s best senior contributors earn All-America honors.

While Duke’s season was far from what they wanted it to be, Chris Pollard, his staff, and his players had one heck of a baseball season. They reached new heights in the polls, had a historic offensive season, and won the second ACC Tournament title in program history. Bowing out before making it to Omaha in the NCAA Tournament will sting and inevitably serve as fuel for next year’s squad.

Replicating some of this year’s team’s magic will be difficult, considering the Blue Devils must replace some significant contributors in the offseason.

Two of those contributors are major holes because they were good players, great leaders, and all-American caliber players.

Charlie Beilenson was one of the nation’s best relievers and was named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association first-team All-American. His 2024 was remarkable. In 2024, he appeared in 34 games on the mound, posting a 7-3 record with a 2.01 ERA. He worked 62.2 innings, allowing 14 earned runs and striking out 92 of the 226 batters he faced. Beilenson held opponents to a .181 average and walked just 18 batters. Earlier this week, he was named a Perfect Game First Team Relief Pitcher and an ABCA/Rawlings First Team Relief Pitcher. If that wasn’t enough, he’s a Stopper of the Year finalist. Whenever Chris Pollard needed outs from the seventh inning onward, Beilenson was available and almost always answered the call. He was as consistent a player as Pollard had all year.

If Beilenson was the most consistent pitcher Pollard could depend on, Zac Morris was the bat his coaches could believe in every time he came to the plate. It shouldn’t be surprising that he was named NCBWA third-team All-American. The former transfer from VMI, Morris, was named the third team’s second baseman. He was an All-ACC First Team second baseman during the 2024 campaign. In his 60 games played, Morris produced a .343 average at the plate, posting a robust OPS of 1.068. He registered 245 at-bats, scoring 69 runs and collecting 84 hits to lead the Blue Devils. Morris added 12 doubles, two triples, a career-high 18 home runs, 59 RBI, and walked 39 times.

He was a walking offensive powerhouse at the top of the Duke lineup. He played a terrific second base in the field, too.

Both players are set to move on to professional endeavors and will look to be drafted in the upcoming 2024 MLB Draft.

Oklahoma Sooners pull off doubleheader sweep

Oklahoma swept an elimination doubleheader to keep their season alive.

Sunday was a long day at the ballpark for the Oklahoma Sooners. However, it was worth every single second of it as the Sooners won not once but twice to keep their season alive and force a do-or-die Game 7 for the opportunity to advance to the Super Regionals where the ACC Tournament runner-ups, Florida State, await them.

The Sooners had no margin for error, as a loss would end their season. After a short rain delay, they took on Duke, the ACC Tournament champs.

Duke drew first blood on an A.J. Garcia single to score Zac Morris and make it a 1-0 Blue Devils lead in the first inning. After getting caught stealing twice, the Sooners managed nothing in their half of their first.

Later, Rocco Garza-Gongora scored Jaxon Willits on an RBI single in the third off Fran Oschell before freshman Jason Walk got in on the action and lined a two-run triple to give OU a 3-1 lead.

Grant Stevens, a senior left-hander, put forth one of the best performances of his career as he held down an elite Duke offense for seven innings. He had seven strikeouts while giving up just one earned run on six hits and two walks, giving Oklahoma a legitimate chance to win.

The Sooners added another run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Michael Snyder slapped a double off the wall in left field, scoring Easton Carmichael to push Oklahoma’s lead to 4-1. Carson Atwood entered in relief and was promptly met with resistance as a double and home run brought Duke closer at 4-3.

Malachi Witherspoon shut down the eighth-inning rally and kept Duke quiet in the ninth as Oklahoma knocked out Duke to set up a rematch with UConn.

After a short break, the Sooners hopped right back into action, knowing they would have to beat UConn not once but twice to reach the Super Regionals.

The Huskies sent Garrett Coe to the bump while Oklahoma rolled with Brendan Girton. Girton didn’t have it today, and Skip Johnson wasted no time giving him the hook. In the first inning, UConn’s leadoff hitter Caleb Shpur cracked a solo home run to left field to open the scoring. Luke Broadhurst singled in Paul Tammaro to make it a 2-0 Huskies lead.

OU responded immediately in the top half of the second on a Scott Mudler RBI single to drive in Jackson Nicklaus.

Out of the bullpen came Jett Lodes, who relieved Girton after a walk to start the bottom of the second. Lodes gave up a run-scoring single to Korey Morton as the Huskies took a 3-1 lead. From that point on, Lodes was nails for the Sooners.

He twirled seven scoreless innings and allowed three hits while walking just two batters. He also racked up seven strikeouts during his outing.

In the top of the third, Oklahoma responded in a big way, with Michael Snyder slamming a two-run homer off Coe to tie the game. The teams remained in a deadlock until the top of the eighth.

In the eighth, the Sooners used patient approaches against the Huskies’ Kieran Finnegan, which paid off. A Jaxon Willits single and a walk by Nicklaus set the scene for Scott Mudler to deliver another RBI Single, giving OU a 4-3 lead. Isaiah Lane walked to load the bases, and the lineup turned over to the top. John Spikerman flew out, but on the very first pitch of his at-bat, OU’s Bryce Madron ripped Braden Quinn’s breaking pitch into the left-center field gap for a 2-run double and a 6-3 Oklahoma lead.

UConn designated hitter Tyler Minick hit a home run in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 6-4, but that was it as junior Ryan Lambert came on in the ninth for the save and locked up the win.

With the win, the stage is set for Monday. There will be one final game between UConn and OU. The winner will face FSU in the Super Regionals, and the loser’s season will end.

The game will be at 8 p.m. local time and can be seen on ESPN+.

 

 

Duke baseball sets program’s single-season home run record after ACC Tournament performance

Lost in the shuffle of Duke’s 16-4 victory over Florida State during Sunday’s ACC title game, the Blue Devils reached 112 home runs for the year.

Duke baseball didn’t just win its second ACC Tournament on Sunday with a 16-4 victory over Florida State, but the Blue Devils set a program record on the way.

Duke hit three home runs during Sunday’s title game, giving them 112 homers for the season. The figure broke a single-season record of 109 home runs set just one season ago.

The Blue Devils broke the record in spectacular fashion, too, when third baseman Ben Miller smashed a grand slam during Sunday’s fourth inning.

Second baseman Zac Morris, who hit three home runs during Duke’s two games in pool play to begin the tournament, leads the Blue Devils with 18 on the season. Logan Bravo sits second on the team with 17, and Miller and centerfielder Devin Obee both finished the ACC Tournament with 15 for the season.

Obee, the ACC Tournament MVP, hit a home run in each of Duke’s last three games of the conference tournament. His slugging weekend crescendoed with a grand slam against the Seminoles on Sunday, giving the Blue Devils a 10-run lead.

Catcher Alex Stone and freshman AJ Gracia, the final two Duke players in double-digits, have 13 home runs for the season. Stone, who also hit two home runs during the ACC Tournament, joined Obee on the All-Tournament Team.

Duke uses explosive 5th inning to crush NC State 8-1 to clinch ACC Tournament semifinal berth

Duke uses three-homer fifth inning to run away from the NC State Wolfpack and advance to ACC Semifinals.

This Duke offense can turn the heat up on anyone. And if there’s a likely culprit doing damage in the middle of it, his name is probably Zac Morris.

That was the case on Thursday night as the Blue Devils used an explosive fifth inning and ran away from their fellow Triangle rivals, the NC State Wolfpack.

Duke and NC State battled it out in Charlotte for the right to advance to the ACC Tournament Semifinals in a win-or-go-home scenario. Only one team could advance from Pool C, and it was whoever walked out with two wins on Thursday night.

Sophomore starting pitcher Andrew Healy was a tone-setter for the Blue Devils as he came right out and had an uneventful one-two-three inning to kick the game off. He settled into a groove and ended his night throwing five innings of shutout baseball. He struck out four batters and walked none on a very economical 59 pitches.

During the top of the fifth inning, his teammates decided to help him out. Left fielder Chase Krewson took NC State’s Sam Highfill the opposite way for a solo home run to put Duke up 1-0. Devin Obee and Wallace Clark singled, and Highfill walked All-ACC freshman Kyle Johnson to load the bases.

Zac Morris, who already had a team-high 17 homers for the season, then took a 1-2 pitch deep to left-center field for a grand slam.

Ben Miller flew out before AJ Gracia got in on the action with a solo home run himself. Like that, Duke was up 6-0, and they never looked back.

Krewson would walk to start the sixth inning, and Devin Obee hit a laser of a line drive that was initially ruled a double before an umpire’s review deemed it a home run, giving Chris Pollard’s team an 8-0 lead.

James Tallon and Tim Noone combined for four innings of one-run ball to close the game, and Duke would eliminate NC State from the ACC Tournament.

From now on, the ACC tournament will be single elimination, so Duke will remain in do-or-die mode. Duke will have Friday off before taking on the winner of Pool D, Virginia, orย  Florida State on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Duke baseball blows past Northwestern after five-run first inning on Saturday

The Blue Devils blew past Northwestern for a series-clinching win on Saturday afternoon after a five-run first inning.

Duke baseball won its sixth straight game to open the 2024 season and its second straight game over Northwestern, clinching the weekend series with an 8-2 win on Saturday night.

The Wildcats put a run on the board in the opening inning, working Duke starter Andrew Healy for a double and a single before the third out was recorded.

The Blue Devils responded with a five-run opening inning of their own.

Second baseman Zac Morris singled to center field to lead the inning off, then he stole second base to put himself in scoring position. When Ben Miller laced a base hit into the outfield just a few pitches later, Morris made his way around for Duke’s first run.

After another single from Alex Stone and watching Logan Bravo get hit by a pitch, freshman AJ Gracia brought in another run with a sacrifice fly. Centerfielder Devin Obee chased Northwestern starter Matt McClure from the mound with a one-run single in the next at-bat to give Duke a 3-0 lead.

McClure only recorded one out on the mound, surrendering four hits and earning all five of Duke’s first-inning runs.

After another sacrifice fly from catcher Macon Winslow, freshman Kyle Johnson added the final run of the first when he somehow threaded the first-base foul line to send a ball into the right-field corner. He ended up on third base with a triple, bringing Obee around to score.

The first-year Blue Devil is off to a scorching start in his Duke career, with the extra-base hit bringing home his first RBI of the season on top of five innings without an earned run on the mound.

Winslow kept his momentum in his second at-bat when he blasted a line driver over the left fielder’s head for an RBI double.

The Duke catcher ended the day with two hits and two RBIs on three at-bats, his first two runs batted in so far this season.

Shortstop Wallace Clark added one of the last exclamation points of the day at the plate, launching a solo moonshot off the right-field scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth to stretch the lead to six runs.

Healy also settled in on the mound after the opening inning, allowing just two more hits over the next three innings and ending his afternoon with three strikeouts. The Blue Devils turned to four different relievers in the final five innings, and the quartet only surrendered three hits and a walk the rest of the way.

The series may already be clinched, but Duke gets the chance to try for the series sweep over the Wildcats on Sunday at noon.

No. 12 Duke kicks off 2024 campaign with 6-3 win over Indiana behind Santucci, transfer Logan Bravo

No.12 Duke baseball kicked off 2024 campaign with a 6-3 win over Indiana.

Friday started what head baseball coach Chris Pollard hopes to be a historic season for the Duke Blue Devils baseball team.

No. 12 Duke got their 2024 campaign started as they hope that this year is the year they break down the door and punch their ticket to Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series.

Duke started its campaign with a win over the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big 10. Preseason second-team All-American Jonathan Santucci has been tabbed as the ace of Duke’s staff, so it was only fitting the junior was given the ball in the season’s first game. His first inning was rocky as he allowed a walk and a hit but fought back to strike out three Hoosiers to get out of the gym.

Braden Risedorph started for Indiana and held the Blue Devils in check for four innings before the top of the fifth rolled around, and the Blue Devils scratched across their first run of the season. True freshman Kyle Johnson doubled with two outs and was knocked in on an RBI double from Oklahoma transfer Wallace Clark. Indiana would bring in Ryan Kraft, and he’d close the door on the Blue Devils in the fifth.

Santucci would give Duke one more scoreless inning before his day was over. He threw 86 pitches in his 2024 debut and struck out seven batters while walking two and allowing zero runs on four singles.

Back-to-back home runs by catcher and captain Alex Stone and Harvard transfer Logan Bravo stretched Duke’s lead to 3-0 in the top half of the sixth before Indiana answered with two runs courtesy of shortstop Tyler Cerny, who took Duke reliever Owen Proksch deep.

Duke responded with two more runs at the top of the seventh, thanks again to the combination of Stone and Bravo. Stone hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Wallace Clark. Bravo would come behind him and rip a single down the left-field line to score Zac Morris and make it 5-2 Duke.

Indiana pushed back on Duke again with a home run by center fielder Carter Mathison in the bottom of the seventh against Proksch before Pollard went to his bullpen to call on 2024 stopper-of-the-year nominee Charlie Beilinson to get Duke out of a two-on-and-one-out jam with the game at 5-3. Beilinson would do just that: strike out the two batters to end the Hoosiers’ threat and send the game to the 8th inning.

North Carolina native and sophomore outfielder Tyler Albright hit a hanging breaking ball deep to left field to give Duke a 6-3 lead in the top half of the eighth, and Beilinson would shut the door in the eight and ninth to end his day and secure the win for the Blue Devils.

Logan Bravo led the way with a 3/5 one-home run and two RBIs. Alex Stone had two RBIs as well. In total, Duke amassed ten hits and had zero errors defensively.

The Blue Devils will rest up and prepare for a Saturday matinee affair with the George Mason Patriots tomorrow with lefty Andrew Healy on the bump.