Meet the Blue Devils… A really good team that appears to be heating up
Who’s the Pack playing?
Opponent: Duke
Mascot: Chasseurs Alpins | School Location: Gentrification Central, NC | Conference: ACC
2025 Record: 17-9 (5-4, T-6th) | 2025 RPI Rank: 44
2024 Record: 40-20 (16-14, 3rd Coastal) | 2024 RPI Rank: 20
2023 Record: 39-24 (16-13, 3rd Coastal) | 2023 RPI Rank: 18
When? Where? How do I watch?
Location: Jack Coombs Field (Durham, NC)
Game Time(s): Fri, Mar 28 @ 8:00pm | Sat, Mar 29 @ 3:00pm | Sun, Mar 30 @ 1:00pm
TV: Friday (ACC Network), Saturday (ACCNX), Sunday (ACCNX)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast (Friday | Saturday | Sunday)
Tell me about this team
Well, it’s a Chris Pollard coached team, so they’re good. You know that.
Actually, it’s not yet clear if Pollard will be coaching all three games of this series or if he’ll be serving a suspension after being ejected from Duke’s game with ECU on Tuesday following a verbal altercation with ECU coach Cliff Godwin. The altercation happened after Duke outfielder Tyler Albright walked with the bases loaded in the 8th inning, spiked his bat, chirped at the pitcher, and then slowly walked to first base.
It was the second time in the game that Albright had overly celebrated a walk, having previously done a bat flip on a prior base-on-balls in the game, while also chirping at the pitcher in that instance. Godwin rightfully had some words for Albright when he got to first base since that’s Bush League behavior, and Pollard rightfully came over to the ECU dugout afterward sticking up for his player, indicating that if Godwin had something to say that he should say it to him and not his player.
Pollard maybe should have said something to Albright about not acting like a brat after the first incident, but you have to credit him for sticking up for his player. Either way he was ejected for the incident, as was Godwin for subsequently leaving the dugout to tell Pollard that his team should act like, oh I don’t know, an ACC caliber squad.
Anyways, all that to say that Pollard should be serving a suspension this weekend, but I haven’t been able to find anything about it.
As for the actual Blue Devils team, here’s what I wrote in my unpublished ACC preview:
Chris Pollard needs to up and go grab another job. I’m tired of this dude turning out good teams on a routine basis. Duke shouldn’t be this good at baseball.
Kudos to Pollard and company for their unique transfer market recruiting strategy of targeting nerds from Ivy League schools and other prestigious academic institutions (with one obvious exception) and generally finding gold. It worked out with four players last year, and it should again pay dividends this year.
That group will join a strong nucleus of returning talent with Ben Miller, A.J. Gracia, Wallace Clark, and Macon Winslow all returning. Kyle Johnson is super talented with the bat, but we’ll see if he focuses more on pitching this year as that’s where his future appears to be pointing. Even without Johnson, the lineup should be plenty potent.
With Johnson and Andrew Healy returning to the starting rotation, the pitching staff is off to a great start. Between the transfer arms (Reid Easterly, Ryan Calvert, Gavin Brown, and Marcello Mastroianni combined for 40 starts last year) and returnees James Tallon, Ryan Higgins, David Boisert, and Gabe Nard (13 combined starts last year) there are plenty of talented options to fill out the starting gigs. Whoever doesn’t end up with a starting gig will form what should be a solid bullpen – and that’s without even getting to the freshman class, which includes talented arms like Max Stammel and Henry Zatkowski.
Will the “smarty pants” transfer recruiting methodology work again? I wouldn’t bet against it. This team has NCAA Regional host upside.
Well, Duke came out of the gates fairly slow, losing five of their first nine games, including two to Cincinnati in their season opening series at home, as well as midweek contests against Campbell and Liberty. The Blue Devils then won eight of their next nine before being swept at Stanford in the ACC-opening series.
Duke is currently riding a five-game winning streak, including a sweep of Virginia in Charlottesville. The team appears to be coming into form, but still has some questions.
The starting rotation is a bit in flux with Andrew Healy being the only consistent member thus far. Kyle Johnson and James Tallon were expected to be the other two members of that starting group, but Tallon didn’t take the starting gig very well and has since been moved back to a stopper relief role – one which he has excelled at previously and is back to being awesome at again – while Johnson has surprisingly struggled this year and has been moved to the bullpen in response.
There are still plenty of talented arms to help fill the role, but for the time being it looks like Duke is going to opt for a bit of a mix of multi-inning efforts to fill up the outings. It’s something they have the depth to do. The staff as a whole has a 5.04 ERA over 219.2 IP with a 9.1 BB% and 22.5 K%.
The lineup has been better than expected with an overall line of .275/.417/.502, 46 2B, 40 HR, 16.1 BB%, 19.2 K%, 19-25 SB. The team is tied for 11th in the country in triples (11), tied for 22nd in home runs, and is 5th in walk rate. They are a group that likes to get lift on the ball, ranking 12th in the country in fly ball rate (45.0%). This Duke lineup can be strong 1 through 9; it’s a daunting group.
With the strong lineup and a deep pitching staff, this still looks like an NCAA Regional host level team. If the starting rotation gets worked out, that’s exactly what they’ll be.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: LHP Dominic Fritton (JR) — LHP Owen Proksch (JR)
Saturday: RHP Heath Andrews (SO) — LHP Andrew Healy (JR)
Sunday: LHP Ryan Marohn (SO) — TBD
Key Players:
Offense
SS Wallace Clark (SR) – .337/.508/.506, 6 2B, 3 HR, 17.2 BB%, 9.0 K%, 2-3 SB. Former transfer from Oklahoma. Very good with the glove and the bat has come round tremendously for the switch-hitter. Has shown exceptional plate discipline this year.
LF/RF Tyler Albright (JR) – .352/.464/.625, 6 2B, 4 HR, 16.1 BB%, 15.2 K%, 5-5 SB. The dude bat flips/spikes walks. That’s all you need to know about him.
3B Ben Miller (SR) – .311/.357/.670, 4 2B, 11 HR, 4.3 BB%, 18.3 K%, 1-2 SB. Former transfer from Penn where he was a teammate of former Pack shortstop Josh Hood. 1st Team All-ACC in 2024, 1st Team All-Ivy League in 2022, and destined for 1st Team All-Mustache in 2025.
2B Jake Berger (SR) – .293/.487/.524, 8 2B, 3 HR, 24.3 BB%, 13.9 K%, 3-3 SB. Transfer from Harvard where he played 3B. Gap approach with excellent plate discipline.
Pitching
LHP Owen Proksch (JR) – 0-0, 1 SV, 3.14 ERA, 14.1 IP, 10.9 BB%, 34.4 K%. Will be making just his second career start this weekend, with his first one coming last week at Virginia (3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 HBP, 3 K). Was a key reliever in 2023 before suffering with command last year (15.5 BB%) which limited his innings. Three pitch mix which plays up thanks to his somewhat funky delivery.
LHP Andrew Healy (JR) – 2-2, 6.75 ERA, 17.1 IP, 8.5 BB%, 18.3 K%. Freshman All-American in 2023. Has never pitched more than 5.0 innings in a game in his career despite 29 starts, yet two of those five career 5.0 IP outings have come against NC State, with both being last year (combined 10.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K). Lanky 6’6, 200 lbs frame with a low-90s heater.
LHP Reid Easterly (SR) – 3-1, 3 SV, 3.65 ERA, 24.2 IP, 1.9 BB%, 22.1 K%. Grad transfer from Yale with impeccable control. He’s not afraid to challenge hitters, though, and that’s why he has more HBP (6) than BB (2) on the year. Not an overpowering pitcher, but the 2023 1st Team All-Ivy League player gets a lot of weak contact on his high-80’s/low-90’s sinker.
RHP Gabe Nard (JR) – 2-1, 3.74 ERA, 21.2 IP, 7.6 BB%, 14.1 K%. Often used reliever relies on weak contact from his sinker to get outs. There was talk in the preseason about potentially moving him to a starter gig, but that hasn’t panned out.
RHP Ryan Calvert (SR) – 2-0, 3.45 ERA, 15.2 IP, 4.7 BB%, 26.6 K%. Big bodied 6’5, 240 pound transfer from UNCW where he was a starter in 2021 before missing 2022 with Tommy John Surgery and mostly serving as a reliever the last two years. Has already made 11 relief appearances this year with Duke. Not overpowering, but his slider and curveball are solid pitches that can get outs.
LHP James Tallon (JR) – 0-1, 3.55 ERA, 12.2 IP, 15.5 BB%, 25.9 K%. The 6’5, 195 pounder has one of the highest Whiff rates in the country on his fastball, getting swings-and-misses on 37.5% of his heaters, 12th best mark in the country. The 2023 Freshman All-American battled a hip injury all last year but is back to his 2023 form this year. Control is better than his BB% indicates with just 1 BB over his last 7.2 IP.
RHP Ryan Higgins (SR) – 1-0, 6.32 ERA, 15.2 IP, 11.8 BB%, 26.3 K%. Has made 22 starts in his career, including as a member of the weekend rotation for the first five weeks of this season. Has a low-90’s fastball, but his best pitches are his slider and changeup. If he’s not locating them, though, hitters will tee off on the fastball.
LHP Henry Zatkowski (FR) – 2-1, 5.71 ERA, 17.1 IP, 1.2 BB%, 29.6 K%. As you’d expect with a freshman, he’s had his share of ups and downs. Slider is his best pitch, and with his ability to pound the zone, he gets a lot of chases on it (40.3%, 15th best mark in D1).
LHP Kyle Johnson (SO) – 1-3, 8.24 ERA, 19.2 IP, 10.2 BB%, 17.3 K%. Freshman All-American last year is a two-way threat who has struggled this year. Started the year in the rotation, but was demoted after giving up 17 ER in 15.1 IP, including 6 HR in that span. He’s much better than his numbers, and should be expected to bounce back as the year progresses.
Quick! Fun Facts!
Unfortunately, this game will be played at what may be the worst ballpark in the ACC. A school in the heart of North Carolina having an artificial turf field is ridiculous, especially a school with the monetary resources of Duke. Inexcusable.
Last month, Chris Pollard became Duke’s all-time winningest coach, passing the namesake for the Blue Devils’ on-campus ballfield, Jack Coombs.
This is obviously a long-running series between the two schools, with NC State holding a 166-130-1 advantage.
Duke has appeared in an NCAA Regional in six of the last eight postseasons under Pollard after having not appeared in one prior to that since 1961.
The Key To A Series Win For State
The Pack has found themselves in trouble when the pitchers have been issuing freebies. If State is to come away with a huge series win this weekend, the Pack pitchers will have to locate. This Duke lineup can do damage, but they’re going to really hurt you if you put runners on base for them.
Prediction
This is a tough series against a hot team away from home. Not getting the warm fuzzies here.
Outcome: State wins Friday night, but loses the series.