Duke baseball goes from mediocre to the ACC semifinals and a chance at an NCAA run

Duke baseball coach Chris Pollard was thinking Thursday afternoon about two conversations.

One was nearly a year ago, with catcher Michael Rothenberg who then a junior and disappointed he wasn’t taken in the Major League draft. The other was earlier this month, with the entire squad after the Blue Devils dropped two games to Louisville.

Both those conversations might have played a role in the Blue Devils’ dramatic 3-2 victory Thursday over Miami in an ACC baseball tournament game at Truist Field in Charlotte. Duke won on Rothenberg’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The victory sent the ninth-seeded Blue Devils (30-20) into the ACC semifinals Saturday – and almost certainly into the NCAA tournament next week.

And it gave the Blue Devils, now on a 10-game winning streak, victories in back-to-back days over fifth seed Florida State and the fourth-seeded Hurricanes.

Pollard recalled his talk last summer with Rothenberg, who’s now a senior.

“They condensed the draft, with fewer rounds, and Michael wasn’t picked,” Pollard said. “It was a difficult time for him.”

Pollard said Rothenberg considered signing a free-agent contract with a major league team.

“We talked, and his parents were involved, and he decided to come back to Duke.”

Pollard said he told Rothenberg in a hallway at Truist Field on Thursday, “That moment is great validation for why you came back.”

A day earlier, Rothenberg smacked a grand slam and two triples in the Blue Devils’ 12-1 rout of Florida State.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better person,” Pollard said. “He’s a south Florida guy, who grew up watching those Miami teams.”

Blue Devils make a comeback

Pollard’s conversation with his team came in early May, after the Blue Devils had dropped two of three games at Louisville and had a 20-20 record.

“It was a pretty frank discussion,” Pollard said. “I really got into them. I told them, ‘You don’t have a single come-from-behind victory this season.’ I think they’ve won five games, coming from behind, since then.”

Duke trailed 2-0 Thursday, with Miami starter Jake Smith limiting the Blue Devils to a pair of hits in five innings. But Rothenberg lined a two-run single off reliever Spencer Bodanza in the sixth, the Blue Devil pitching stopped the Hurricanes, and Rothenberg got to do it again in the ninth.

“We’ve won 10 games in a row, and it’s not always been a case of taking a lead and riding it out,” Rothenberg said. “I don’t think anyone in our dugout during those last three innings was expecting a loss.”

Duke wins Pool D

▪ With the victory, Duke finished 2-0 in Pool D play. The Blue Devils will play in the 1 p.m. semifinal game against the winner of Pool A. Top-seeded Notre Dame and eighth seed Virginia will play at 11 a.m. Friday to determine that pool’s winner.

▪ Most national baseball analysts have Duke solidly in the NCAA tournament field, either as a second or third seed in a regional. Regardless, Pollard made a pitch for his team Thursday, saying, “I think we’ve got arguably as good a resume as we’ve had in my nine years at Duke. We have an outstanding resume that’s only gotten better in our two games in Charlotte.”

▪ Blue Devil starter Jack Carey worked six innings, scattering four hits and allowing one earned run. Marcus Johnson pitched the remaining three innings, allowing two hits, walking three, and striking out three.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle

This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Duke baseball goes from mediocre to the ACC semifinals and a chance at an NCAA run."