What a great difference a year can make.
Three series into their ACC season, the Blue Devils are sitting in a tie for fourth place with a .500 record in the conference. That puts Duke a world away from last year's disappointing 17-41 record.
The Blue Devils (16-18, 4-4 in the ACC), who are coming off three straight victories, now have the chance to prove whether or not they belong among the elite of the conference. They square off against the No. 3 team in college baseball, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (23-7, 6-3), in a three-game series this weekend at Jack Coombs Stadium.
"We're looking forward to playing them," coach Bill Hillier said. "We're playing our best baseball of the season."
In Duke's less-than-brilliant campaign last year, the series against Georgia Tech stood out among few bright spots.
The Blue Devils, who only won five games in conference last season, shocked the college baseball world by taking two out of three from the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.
"Last year, going into that series I thought that our guys would have to play perfect to beat them," Hillier said. "As a coach you always hope for that, but you can't expect it. This year is a much different situation. I think we go into every game against [our opponent] with a good chance to win. Our guys are really excited for this series."
The Blue Devils believe that playing in front of the home crowd will prove a significant advantage as they try to avenge Georgia Tech's 6-3 victory in the quarterfinals of the ACC
"We have the best sports fans in America," Hillier said. "We play two night games in this series [7 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday]. With basketball season over, good weather, and the team playing one of the best programs in the country, we hope the students will come out and support the team. That makes a big difference."
Duke enters the series with another advantage.
The Yellow Jackets are without last season's collegiate player of the Year, third baseman Mark Teixeira.
"We would have liked to have had him playing," Hillier said. "He's got a good chance to be the top pick in the draft. You'd like the pitchers to have a chance to go up against someone like that."
Teixeira will be out until the ACC tournament after breaking his right ankle in a game against Elon Feb. 21. He had two pins inserted into his ankle as a result of the injury.
Seven games into the season Teixeira was hitting .500 with four home runs, 11 RBI, and an amazing 1.042 slugging percentage.
Despite losing a large chunk of the season to injury, Teixeira does not believe his future is in danger.
"The doctors say I should be 100 percent when I get back," he said. "There shouldn't be any loss of movement or range in terms of fielding. I really expect to be a full-time third baseman. I don't really think the injury will have any impact on the draft."
The Minnesota Twins hold the No. 1 pick in June's Major League Baseball draft. Given the club's penny-pinching tendencies, and a rule forbidding draft-pick trades, this pick won't be used on any of the top prospects.
This places the Chicago Cubs, who have control of the second pick, in an excellent position.
They will choose between Teixeira, easily the best offensive prospect available in an extremely deep draft, and right-handed pitcher Ben Sheets of the University of Southern California.
Baseball America's Tracy Ringolsby said that Sheets could step into a Major League rotation as a third or fourth starter, and soon reach the top of the rotation.
Given the dearth of quality pitching at the Major League level, the fact that Teixeira is even a consideration over Sheets demonstrates his talent as a hitter.
While the absence of Teixeira hurts, Georgia Tech is No. 3 for many reasons. Ten of them, in fact, as 10 Yellow Jackets have already been drafted. Even without their third baseman, the Yellow Jackets lead the conference in hitting at .348, runs scored, RBI and slugging percentage.
"Our pitchers can't afford to make mistakes against them," Hillier said. "They have too many guys that can change the game with one swing."
On the mound, the Yellow Jackets have the second-best team ERA in the conference. Georgia Tech will open the series with Steve Kelly, who has a 1.66 ERA in his last three start. On Saturday, the Blue Devils will face ACC wins leader Rhett Parrott.
"We're going to really have to work to score runs," Hillier said. "They've got a lot of talent, but our guys are hitting the ball well right now."
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