Quick, name the winningest varsity sport at Duke last year. Men's basketball? Nope. Women's basketball? Try again. How about men's soccer, with its trip to the 1995 NCAA championship game? Not even close.
With a school-record 39 victories last spring, Duke baseball was easily the school's top winner. Bursting out of the gate, the Blue Devils won 18 of their first 20 games, including two of three from perennial power Clemson, and cracked the top 25 for the fifth straight year. Then the injury bug struck, punching holes in an already-thin pitching staff and relegating the Blue Devils to a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
When the dust finally settled, a 39-18 record was not enough to earn coach Steve Traylor his first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. In fact, the last time Duke made it to the NCAA Tournament was 1961-despite Duke's current streak of five straight 30-win campaigns.
As the February ground begins to thaw at historic Jack Coombs Field, a youth movement that started last year with 10 freshman and 7 sophomores appears capable of finally taking Duke to the next level. Losing just one position player-but also three pitchers-from 1996, the Blue Devils will ride a potent offense as far is it will take them.
"It's easy to look at our squad and say that's the same team as last year," Traylor said. "But with the losses on our pitching staff... we're very inexperienced there, and we're very experienced with our position players."
Duke's starting rotation will be sporting a new look this spring. The Blue Devils say goodbye to Scott Schoenweis, David Darwin and Craig Starman, who accounted for more than half of last year's wins. Right-hander Richard Dishman-the No. 3 starter a year ago-is suddenly the anchor of a rotation with plenty of promise but little experience.
"We're not real deep, but we've got six power pitchers that can throw in the upper 80s and low 90s," Traylor said.
Aside from Dishman's, the staff's heat will have to come from three starters with a combined 4 1/3 innings of ACC experience. Freshmen Brad Dupree and Chris Capuano will look "up" to No. 2 starter Stephen Cowie, despite Cowie's relative lack of work in an injury-plagued freshman year.
If Traylor's pitching staff looks a bit thin, his offense is bursting at the seams. Duke's well-stocked infield features two All-ACC candidates and a newcomer with star potential. Senior Frankie Chiou anchors the Blue Devils at second base, coming off a stellar campaign at the plate (.353 BA, 42 RBI) and looking to establish himself in Duke's all-time record book. Chiou will team with highly-touted freshman Vaughn Schill at shortstop and 1996 ACC Rookie of the Year Jeff Becker (.364, 7 HR, 41 RBI) at third base to make Duke's infield an offensive force.
"It's hard to beat that infield," Traylor said. "I think, anywhere in college baseball, that will be as good an infield as anyone has."
The infield's chief question mark stems from a lineup shift Traylor hopes to make, bringing outfielder Mike Fletcher to first base, while moving Jeff Staubach from designated hitter to left field.
"[Staubach] has earned a chance to start for us here as a senior, so in order to get Jeff into the lineup, we had to move Fletcher to first base," Traylor said. "What that turns out to be, really, are our nine best hitters. We've got in our lineup, or at least we think so, the team that will produce the most runs."
As a team last year, Duke batted .309 and outscored opponents, 596-486. If it can improve on those lofty totals, a postseason bid may finally become a reality. Right fielder Jordan Litrownik (.318, 10 SB) will help Chiou set the table at the plate, while catcher Gregg Maluchnik (.347, 10 HR, 68 RBI) and Fletcher (.274, 5 HR) will supply the power for the Blue Devils' assault on the ACC.
"The conference is so strong, the big question really isn't who is the best team in our conference," Traylor said. "It's really who is the best team in the United States."
That honor currently belongs to Florida State, ranked No. 1 in College Baseball's preseason top-40 poll. Three other ACC clubs are ranked: Georgia Tech (10th), Clemson (17th) and North Carolina State (33rd).
Surviving the ACC schedule may be the toughest task Duke faces, but it won't be the only one. The 1997 schedule features 25 games (out of 56 total) against NCAA tournament teams from last year, including one versus defending champion Louisiana State. Add an April road trip to Miami for a three-game series, and there remains no doubt that critics of the Duke 1996 schedule will keep quiet.
Duke certainly has the bats to slug with the big boys. With preseason All-ACC choices Maluchnik and Becker, Traylor knows his offense is budding. But can strength at the plate carry the Blue Devils to a regional bid in the NCAA?
"The bottom line usually is who has the strongest pitching staff.... I think we've got some arms that are capable of putting us there, but the experience factor is not to our advantage right now," Traylor said. "That's another reason we've made a change [in the field] that may have weakened us defensively, but should help us score some runs. We're going in assuming we need to score and give our pitching staff some time to develop."
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