In Sean McNally's first year as Duke's head coach, the team went 15-40 and finished second to last in the ACC. One year later, McNally's Blue Devils are 6-0 and crushing the competition.
The players are performing better in all facets of the game, and they said McNally is largely responsible for the remarkable turn-around as Duke takes on Albany at 3 p.m. today at Jack Coombs Field.
"Coach has definitely prepared us," pitcher Jonathan Foreman said. "We've gone through every situation. We're fundamentally sound, fundamentally ready to go."
Last year, Duke played in 13 three-game series throughout the season and never swept one. The currently unbeaten Blue Devils have already swept their first two series. Duke's six wins have come over lightweights Mount Saint Mary's and Saint Bonaventure, but in past years similar teams have taken games from the Blue Devils.
"I know they're excited to get back after it on Tuesday," McNally said. "I think they would play all day the way we're playing right now."
The Great Danes finished 20-32 last year and 12-10 in the American East. Albany opens the season trying to replace ace pitcher Mark Suchowiecki, who graduated last year as the team's only starter with a winning record. He finished 6-4 with a 3.21 ERA, far better than the team's 6.09 combined ERA of its returning pitchers. The Great Danes will return some of last year's firepower, however, as catcher Tom Hill looks to improve on his impressive sophomore season. He blasted 11 homers and knocked in 46 RBI, more than any Duke player last year.
The Albany team from snow-covered New York will take to the field for the first time this season against a Duke team already in the swing of things. The Blue Devils have a .429 team batting average and are scoring more than 12 runs per game. Their 74 runs this season are already one-fourth of last season's entire 280-run production with nearly 50 games left to play.
"Hitting comes and goes," said first baseman Nate Freiman, who has hit Duke's lone home run so far this season. "We're having good at-bats. People are going up there with confidence. People are going up to the box knowing that they're going to have a good at-bat."
After dismantling their first two opponents by an average of more than seven runs per game, McNally said the Blue Devils know that pitching and defense must be their constants when their hitting inevitably goes cold. A near-perfect fielding percentage and a shutdown ERA of 2.83 seems to indicate the veracity of this team's early success.
Although Duke has won almost half as many games as all of last year, the players know just how long the season can be.
"There's a lot of excitement, but we're still early in the season," Freiman said. "We have 49 games left. So, we can't kick it too high because if we lose sight of what we're out to do, it'll be a long season."
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