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Duke Baseball: One Win Away from the College World Series

By Joseph Ochoa

Omaha, NE - JUNE 27: A general view of a baseball on the field prior to game two of the College World Series Championship Series between the Oregon State Beavers and the Arkansas Razorbacks on June 27, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 27: A general view of a baseball on the field prior to game two of the College World Series Championship Series between the Oregon State Beavers and the Arkansas Razorbacks on June 27, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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Duke defeat No. 2 Vanderbilt, On the Brink of CWS Appearance

Coming into the 2018 season, Duke wasn’t considered a baseball powerhouse since the middle of the 20th century. After Friday night, the Blue Devils will try and change that narrative.

The Blue Devils defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 18-5 Friday, completely shocking the No. 2 ranked baseball team in the country. As we mentioned here earlier this week, the Blue Devils had probably the toughest road of the North Carolina based teams remaining in the tournament.

The Blue Devils came out in strong fashion, tagging Commodores pitcher Drake Fellows for seven runs and his first loss of the season, and sealing the win with a 10-run eighth inning.

Of the teams remaining in the tournament, the Blue Devils have the most unlikely appearance in the tournament, boasting a 35-25 record and were a team just trying to make it to the postseason. The Blue Devils were one of the last four teams selected for the 64-team tournament.

Meanwhile, the Commodores came into the tournament as the hottest team in the country, winning 12 games in a row before Friday night’s loss.

Duke got things rolling in the third inning

Following both teams scoring two runs in the second to tie things up a 2-2, the Blue Devils broke the game open with a four-run third inning. Sophomore catcher Michael Rothenburg drove in a run with an RBI-single and graduate outfielder Kyle Gallagher brought him home with a three-run homer. Duke kept the Commodores off the board in the bottom of the inning to keep things at 6-2 going into the fourth.

After allowing one run in the fourth inning, Commodores catcher Phillip Clarke hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and utility player Austin Martin hit a sac-fly to drive in another run to bring the team back to a 7-5 deficit going into the seventh inning.

In the eighth inning, Duke put the game on ice with a total of 10 runs scored. Seven different had an RBI in the inning, including Gallagher, who had four RBIs for the game.

Duke had 7 hits going into the eighth inning, they would finish the game with 15 following eight hits in the inning, and effectively ending the game at 18-5.

Duke attempts to end 58-year CWS drought

The Blue Devils have made history the last two seasons, reaching the Super Regional round in the last two years. Prior to the 2018 season, the Blue Devils never made it to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament since the early 1960s.

The Blue Devils are now on the brink of making the College World Series, a feat the Blue Devils haven’t been able to do since the 1961 season.

With history on the line, the Blue Devils have a great chance to make it to the College World Series, as they will now have two chances to take down the Commodores to advance to their first College World Series in nearly 60 years.

The first chance will come on Saturday at 9 p.m. eastern in Nashville. If the Blue Devils fail Saturday, they will have one more chance to win in game three on Sunday at 3 p.m. eastern, should it be necessary.

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