Completed Event: Baseball versus Murray State on June 9, 2025 , Loss , 4, to, 5
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Final
Baseball
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vs Murray State
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Friday, February 14
Durham, N.C.
4 p.m.
Duke University
vs
Cincinnati
No. 11 Duke Set for Opening Day Showdown with Cincinnati
2/13/2025 2:53:00 PM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. – No. 11 Duke opens the 2025 campaign on Friday afternoon, welcoming Big 12 foe Cincinnati to Jack Coombs Field. All three contests can be seen on ACCNX, and first pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Fans planning to attend Duke's opening weekend series should be aware of parking conflicts on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday, general public parking is available in the Science Drive Garage for $25. SDG will accept prepaid parking passes from my.parking.duke.edu or on-site as you arrive.
Parking for Friday and Sunday will be located in the Science Drive Garage.
All tickets in the grandstand are RESERVED SEATS and you must sit in your assigned seat. A berm ticket grants entry into the berm area on either side of the grandstand and DOES NOT INCLUDE A SEAT.
Duke in the Polls
D1Baseball – 11
NCBWA – 11
USA Today Coaches Poll – 12
Baseball America – 10
Perfect Game – 9
FRIDAY (2/14)
#11 Duke vs. Cincinnati
4 p.m. (ET) – Jack Coombs Field
VIDEO – ACCNX
Duke – LHP – Kyle Johnson
Cincinnati – LHP – Kellen O'Connor
SATURDAY (2/15)
#11 Duke vs. Cincinnati
3 p.m. (ET) – Jack Coombs Field
VIDEO – ACCNX
Duke – RHP – Ryan Higgins
Cincinnati – RHP – Nathan Taylor
SUNDAY (2/16)
#11 Duke vs. Cincinnati
1 p.m. (ET) – Jack Coombs Field
VIDEO – ACCNX
Duke – LHP – James Tallon
Cincinnati – LHP – Adam Mrakitsch
QUICK HITS
For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBASE".
#GoDuke
Fans planning to attend Duke's opening weekend series should be aware of parking conflicts on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday, general public parking is available in the Science Drive Garage for $25. SDG will accept prepaid parking passes from my.parking.duke.edu or on-site as you arrive.
Parking for Friday and Sunday will be located in the Science Drive Garage.
All tickets in the grandstand are RESERVED SEATS and you must sit in your assigned seat. A berm ticket grants entry into the berm area on either side of the grandstand and DOES NOT INCLUDE A SEAT.
Duke in the Polls
D1Baseball – 11
NCBWA – 11
USA Today Coaches Poll – 12
Baseball America – 10
Perfect Game – 9
FRIDAY (2/14)
#11 Duke vs. Cincinnati
4 p.m. (ET) – Jack Coombs Field
VIDEO – ACCNX
Duke – LHP – Kyle Johnson
Cincinnati – LHP – Kellen O'Connor
SATURDAY (2/15)
#11 Duke vs. Cincinnati
3 p.m. (ET) – Jack Coombs Field
VIDEO – ACCNX
Duke – RHP – Ryan Higgins
Cincinnati – RHP – Nathan Taylor
SUNDAY (2/16)
#11 Duke vs. Cincinnati
1 p.m. (ET) – Jack Coombs Field
VIDEO – ACCNX
Duke – LHP – James Tallon
Cincinnati – LHP – Adam Mrakitsch
QUICK HITS
- After leading the Blue Devils to three Super Regional appearances and a record six NCAA Tournament appearances, head coach Chris Pollard eyes one of the most coveted prizes on campus. Pollard enters the 2025 season three wins shy of legendary head coach Jack Coombs for the most in program history. Additionally, Pollard is nearing his 800th career victory, beginning the season with 764 wins across 26 years of coaching.
- The Blue Devils pounced on their opponents throughout the past two seasons, recording 624 of their 982 runs during that stretch from the fourth to eighth innings. That number accounts for 65.3% of the Blue Devils' run production this season. Additionally, 381 of the Blue Devils' 982 runs came within the fourth to sixth innings, 38.7%.
- Historic Jack Coombs Field opens the 2025 season once again for the Blue Devils after undergoing the groundbreaking of a newly renovated facility. New to 2025, The jack offers expanded sight lines, renovated and larger dugouts, new playing dimensions, updated fence design, and a new playing surface. Phase two of the project will feature a new indoor hitting facility and pitching facility, before phase three encompasses the clubhouse and player areas.
- The sophomore duo of AJ Gracia and Kyle Johnson begin their second season at Duke as two of the most highly recognized players at their positions. Regarded by most as two of the top 15 best players in the 2026 MLB Draft, Gracia and Johnson were honored during the preseason as 2025 Preseason Golden Spikes Watch List members, joining 53 other collegiate baseball players across the country. The two had breakout seasons in year one with the Blue Devils, earning them a spot on the USA Collegiate National Team Summer Ball roster.
- The ACC sent four teams to the College World Series a year ago, splitting the field with the SEC in Omaha, Neb. To begin the 2025 season, seven different teams are ranked inside the top 15 of D1Baseball's preseason poll as Virginia (2), North Carolina (6), Florida State (9), Duke (11), NC State (13), Wake Forest (14) and Clemson (15) all check-in.
- The Atlantic Coast Conference made a change to the ACC Tournament for the 2025 season alongside the addition of new conference mates Cal and Stanford, two squads the Blue Devils will face in the first two weekends of ACC play. New for the 2025 season, the Atlantic and Coastal divisions are no more. With that, the conference tournament held at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park at the end of May expanded to 16 teams. The entire league will participate in the conference tournament. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will earn spots in the quarterfinals played on Thursday or Friday, while the next four seeds earn spots in Wednesday's second-round action. The final eight teams will begin tournament action on Tuesday, forcing the bottom half of the league to win five games to claim the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.
- One of the top recruiters in the Big Ten, Derek Simmons, joined the Blue Devils staff this season, after the departure of Ty Blankmeyer to Vanderbilt. Simmons joined the Blue Devils' staff after a five-year stint at Indiana and will coordinate all developmental aspects for the infielders and lead training protocols for baserunning. The 13-year coaching veteran has thrived on the recruiting front in previous stops, securing a pair of top 25 classes to go along with four other top classes. In 2023, the Hoosiers class was tabbed as the 17th best class in the country, the highest in Indiana program history.
- The Blue Devils have thrived off scoring first and scoring in bunches since 2016. Duke has compiled a 197-65 (.752) record when scoring first and a staggering 216-47 (.821) record when scoring three or more runs in an inning.
For more information on Duke baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeBASE".
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
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