Duke baseball has returned to the national scene over the last two seasons, but an opponent has stopped the Blue Devils one game short of the College World Series both years. Invigorated by the recent success but fueled by shortcomings, head coach Chris Pollard and No. 15 Duke offered their thoughts on the upcoming season this afternoon:
Pollard on postseason runs of last two seasons:
"It's a constant fire that burns, having gone through it in Lubbock and then getting so close again in 2019. Probably not a day goes by that I don't think about it on some level. It is tremendous motivation because as much as it's been been great for this program to experience the success that it has...it has also been really hard when you get that close two years in a row, not to be able to take that last step. That's something that keeps these guys hungry every day."
P/1B Matt Mervis on being a two-way player:
"Honestly, whatever the coaches tell me. I'm going to do what I can to help the team, whether that's first base, DH or pitching, wherever it may be. I love it. It's what I've done my whole life. I love hitting, I love pitching. I love doing both."
Pollard on All-American teammates Bryce Jarvis and Thomas Girard:
"I think the thing that's neat about having two preseason All-Americans [is] they're roommates, they're in the same major and I don't know how many programs in the country have two roommates that are preseason All-Americans. Those two guys spend more time studying and in the lab than any other two preseason All-Americans in the country. I will definitely vouch for that. All those two do when they're not on the field is study in that engineering lab."
Matt Mervis on freshman pitcher Henry Williams:
"[He has] a lot of polish. He's a very advanced pitcher for freshman, probably the most advanced I've seen in my four years of seeing freshman classes. Good mound presence, good fastball, good stuff, but his mental game is strong."
Shortstop Ethan Murray on recovering from injury:
"After I got hurt, I came back to do summer school here. I got shut down from doing summer ball, so I came back to class here and got to meet all the freshmen and work out in the weight room and hang out with our new guys, so that was fun. It was just a chance to rest and relax. I think going to summer ball probably would have been detrimental to my health and well-being."
Pollard on the recent Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal:
"I had a chance to talk with Craig Counsell, the Milwaukee Brewers manager, in our weight room on Tuesday night. He was here for the Duke-Miami basketball game. I said to him, 'Have you ever had or seen or experienced a weirder day in our sport than last Thursday?' It's just an incredibly strange day, the way it all unfolded. I have a lot of thoughts on it. I have a lot of thoughts on the trickle-down effect and how that may play itself out at the college level and I'm probably best served to keep those thoughts to myself."
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