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Duke Baseball: West Virginia Regional Preview

By Christian Candeloro

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 26: A general view of a baseball on the field during batting practice before game one of the College World Series Championship Series between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Oregon State Beavers on June 26, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 26: A general view of a baseball on the field during batting practice before game one of the College World Series Championship Series between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Oregon State Beavers on June 26, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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The Blue Devils face the No. 15 overall seed Mountaineers in the winner’s bracket game Saturday.

The Duke Blue Devils, the No. 3 seed in the Morgantown Regional, held off a late rally from Texas A&M in the opening game to advance to the winner’s bracket and a date with the hosting West Virginia.

How We Got Here

Junior Erikson Nichols clubbed a three-run home run in the fourth inning and the Blue Devils poured on runs until it had a comfortable 8-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th. A furious rally by Texas A&M brought the tying run to the plate, but Duke held on to win 8-5.

West Virginia defeated Fordham easily, cruising to a 6-2 win in the opener. The Mountaineers drew eight walks in the win and junior left-hander Nick Snyder picked up the win by throwing five innings and allowing one run.

The Mountaineers earned the No. 15 overall seed in the tournament by posting a 37-20 record in the regular season and appearing in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game. West Virginia’s pitching staff finished 23rd in team ERA and buoyed an offense that finished 140th in runs scored.

Facing Manoa

Duke will face perhaps its toughest test of the year in West Virginia ace Alek Manoa. The Mountaineers gambled in the opening game of the regional by starting Snyder in an attempt to save Manoa. It paid off and now West Virginia will have its ace against Duke.

And folks, Manoa is an absolute stud. Manoa is 9-3 with a 1.85 ERA in 102.1 innings this season. He’s struck out 135 batters to just 23 walks. In the Big 12 Tournament against top-seeded Texas Tech, Manoa threw eight innings of one-run ball, striking out 10 batters in a 5-1 win.

According to the latest mock draft on MLB.com, Manoa is mocked to the Blue Jays with the No. 11 pick and No. 7 to the Reds according to Fangraphs.

Duke will likely challenge with junior lefthander Bill Chillari who went 2-3 with a 4.96 ERA in 2019.

What’s Next

If the Blue Devils win, they will play in an elimination game at 12PM EST on Sunday against the winner of Texas A&M and Fordham. If they win they’ll advance to the championship or semi-final at 6PM EST.

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