bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
DURHAM -- Duke baseball and the Durham Bulls announced a three-year agreement on Tuesday that will have the Blue Devils playing at Durham Bulls Athletic Park starting with the 2010 season.
Duke will play 18 games at the DBAP this coming season, including all their ACC games and two nonconference series. Mid-week games still will be played at Jack Coombs Field, the Blue Devils' on-campus facility, to avoid disrupting players' class schedules.
The Blue Devils will release their schedule next week, but Coach Sean McNally said they will host UNC, Miami, Clemson, Virginia and Florida State at DBAP.
"I'm very excited," senior catcher Ryan McCurdy said. "We had a chance to play [at the DBAP] during the ACC Tournament, [and] everyone really enjoyed that. ... We had a good run during the tournament and finished a little short, but soon after we heard that we had a chance to play here and we were very excited about it."
The 2009 run in the ACC Tournament was the first trip to the event since 2005 for the Blue Devils, who finished 35-24 overall for their third consecutive winning season.
McNally, who is entering his fifth year as Duke's coach, said the agreement is a recognition of the success the Blue Devils have had over the past few years.
"I think we've come a long way," McNally said. "I think we've earned a lot of respect. We started at the bottom of the conference and went to the ACC Tournament last year. I think this is a real recognition of that like, 'Wow, the team and the program have made a lot of progress.'
"And I think it will help us take that next step. We're not satisfied to be in the middle of the league; we want to go forward. The elite level programs have elite stadiums on campus, and now all of a sudden we're playing in the best venue in the league."
McNally said he also expects the DBAP to have a big impact on recruiting. Jack Coombs Field was built in 1931 and has a seating capacity of 2,000. The DBAP was opened in 1995 and can hold more than 10,000.
McNally said there are no immediate plans to renovate Jack Coombs, and the Blue Devils plan to continue practicing there.
"I think it gives us the opportunity to play in one of the premiere venues in college baseball," said Kevin White, Duke vice president and director of athletics. "Our coach and the staff have done a brilliant job over the last four years bringing our program back to life and putting it in a strong competitive position."
