Kings of the Queen City

CHARLOTTE – Maybe Duke can become the third ACC school to sue the league; the grounds would be to play the conference’s baseball tournament in Charlotte every year.

The Blue Devils slammed Florida State 16-4 on Sunday at Truist Field to win the ACC tournament championship.

It’s the second time in four years that Duke has won the ACC crown; both have come in Charlotte, where the Blue Devils are a combined 8-0.

The celebration came a week after coach Chris Pollard laid out why this scene needed to be the Blue Devils’ focus, as it was and manifested throughout wins over Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Miami and FSU.

“So, a week ago today, it was about this time,” Pollard said. “I passed around a 2021 ACC championship ring and let everybody put their hands on it and I just said, ‘Look, I’ve been really blessed to go to six NCAA tournaments and three NCAA super regionals. They were great experiences, I wouldn’t trade them for anything and it’s certainly a goal of ours to be playing baseball in June.

“‘But the ability to dogpile on that field, Truist Field in 2021, was the best baseball experience I’ve ever been a part of and I want you to be a part of that experience, too. I want you to go out there and celebrate bringing a trophy back to your university.’”

So here was 2024, ending with a Duke dogpile, Pollard drenched by a water cooler, and the Blue Devils celebrating a championship rather than worry about NCAA tournament implications.

“Guys embraced that, we were in the moment all week,” Pollard said. “We never once talked about the NCAA tournament. It was about this experience here and having the chance to compete for a championship.”

The Blue Devils punched the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; later Sunday night, they will find out if they’re hosting an NCAA regional for the first time in program history. On Monday at noon, the NCAA tournament selection show will be shown on ESPN2.

Duke (39-18) bludgeoned an FSU team playing to solidify a potential top-8 seed in the NCAA tournament. FSU and Clemson are involved in litigation against the ACC in hopes of leaving the conference.

The Blue Devils had a lot of baseballs leave the ballpark.

Already leading 5-2 in the top of the fourth, Duke loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch and two walks to start the inning. Thought brought to the plate Ben Miller, the grad transfer third baseman whose average was above .400 for almost the entire season, but was 3-for-27 in Duke’s last six games.

Miller launched the second pitch he saw high and deep over the left-field fence for a grand slam.

“Baseball is a pretty funny game, Coach has said it before, once you think you’ve got it figured out it humbles you pretty quickly,” Miller said. “Coming into today, was feeling a little better. But still doubting myself a little bit.”

There was no doubt about the homer.

“I had a few at-bats to start out the game, feeling back to my old self,” Miller said. “Honestly, the thing I think I figured out is that you shouldn’t be thinking at all when you’re hitting. I’ve definitely known that in the past, but then you tend to forget that when things start not going your way.”

That wasn’t even Duke’s only grand slam of the day.

FSU (42-15) got two runs back on Jaime Ferrer’s homer in the bottom of the fourth, making it 9-4. After a scoreless fifth, Duke pushed across a run in the sixth on Chase Krewson’s bases-loaded walk, bringing up Devin Obee.

The junior centerfielder cranked his third homer in as many games, putting Duke up 14-4 and tying a bow on his tournament MVP nod.

“Just trying to be as relaxed as possible,” Obee said of his approach this week. “Trying to let the ball get deep and just let the ball get to me instead of trying to do too much. I’m pretty powerful, so I’ve just gotta let it come to me.”

Obee was 7-for-12 in the tournament with eight RBI, seven runs and three homers. Miller hit a two-run homer in the seventh for the last of this game’s scoring — and the 64th homer of the event, setting an ACC tournament record.

FSU scored in the first inning — a no-doubter of a two-run homer from Cam Smith — and Duke wasted little time in piecing together a response.

Before the crooked numbers on grand slams, Duke put up a five-run inning that was an important response to FSU grabbing the early lead.

Duke sent nine batters to the plate in the second. Logan Bravo started things with a bloop single and Krewson singled up the middle on a two-strike pitch. Obee walked and on the first pitch after a mound visit, Wallace Clark was plunked in the back to force in the first run.

Kyle Johnson doubled into the left field corner against reliever Noah Short, giving Duke its first lead. After Short struck out Zac Morris and retired Miller on a pop up, AJ Gracia got just enough of a ball blooped into short centerfield to drive in Obee and Clark.

After James Tallon gave up two runs in the first two batters he faced, he faced the minimum nine batters. Things came full circle when he retired Smith for the last out of the third inning, which was Tallon’s last batter. The sophomore who was Duke’s closer last year started a game for the first time, allowing two runs on two hits and walking one batter. He was picked up by a 5-4-3 double play that ended the second.

“I kind of just spent the whole night thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to go out there, anything could happen but I’m going to try my best to enjoy it and embrace the moment,’” Tallon said. “That’s what I did.”

EXTRA BASES: It’s Duke’s fifth ACC championship in baseball. Three of those (1956, ’57 and ’61) were without a conference tournament; the two tournament titles were in the last four years. … Along with Obee, closer Charlie Beilenson and catcher Alex Stone were named to the all-tournament team. Beilenson finished the game on the mound with a scoreless ninth; he pitched 6 1/3 innings this week and allowed two runs on three hits, with nine strikeouts and one walk. … Stone is one of four players who was also on the 2021 team; he had four hits, including the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning on Saturday against Miami, and caught every inning of Duke’s games. … According to the ESPN2 broadcast, Pollard is hoping to get 50-60 pitches out of Jonathan Santucci in an NCAA tournament regional appearance next weekend. He has missed the last three weeks because of a rib injury suffered while warming up for his start at Georgia Tech on May 10.