Duke baseball earns NCAA tournament spot, will head to Morgantown for regional

Chris Crabtree was on fire last postseason, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Athens Regional.
Chris Crabtree was on fire last postseason, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Athens Regional.

A year after they won their first-ever regional, the Blue Devils will have the chance to repeat history. 

Duke will head to West Virginia for the Morgantown regional, and will take on No. 15 seed West Virginia, Fordham and Texas A&M in a double-elimination bracket, with the winner advancing to super regionals. This is the Blue Devils' third NCAA tournament appearance in the last four years, which follows a 45-year Duke postseason drought.


Considered a bubble team by Baseball America and D1Baseball.com, the Blue Devils had an up-and-down 2019 campaign, and head into the tournament with a 31-25 record.

Duke opened the season by winning nine of its first 11 games, including a combined no-hitter against Penn State, the Blue Devils' first since 1955. But Duke was without its ace, Graeme Stinson, for much of the season, as Stinson's last appearance was March 15.

After a disappointing midseason stretch that included a midweek series loss to Penn and a sweep to North Carolina, the Blue Devils bounced back, and won four consecutive ACC series in April.

With a veteran-laden roster, last year's Duke squad advanced out of the Athens regional, and came up just one win short of punching its ticket to Omaha. While many of the 2018 contributors moved on to the pros, the Blue Devils still have their biggest star from last postseason, sophomore first baseman Chris Crabtree. 

Duke will begin NCAA tournament play with a matchup against the Aggies Friday at 4 p.m.

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