Who’s the Pack playing?
Opponent: Duke
Mascot: Carpetbaggers | School Location: Durm, NC | Conference
: ACC2026 Record: 21-14 (7-8, 10th) | 2026 RPI Rank: 114
2025 Record: 41-21 (17-13, 7th) | 2025 RPI Rank: 32
2024 Record: 40-20 (16-14, 3rd Coastal) | 2024 RPI Rank: 20
When? Where? How do I watch?
Location: Doak Field at Dail Park (Raleigh, NC)
Game Time(s): Fri, Apr 10 @ 6:00pm | Sat, Apr 11 @ 3:00pm | Sun, Apr 12 @ 1:00pm
TV: Friday (ACCNX) | Saturday (ACCNX) | Sunday (ACCNX)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast (Friday | Saturday | Sunday)
Tell me about this team
Duke’s baseball program
has historically been pretty… uhh… gross. With the exception of a 1994 season when the Blue Devils went 16-8 in the ACC under Steve Traylor (something was in the water in Durham that year – the Blue Devils football team went 8-4 under Fred Goldsmith), Duke didn’t post a winning conference mark from 1964 until Chris Pollard’s second season at the helm in 2014. Pollard then led Duke to 7 NCAA Regional appearances in a 9-year span, including 4 Super Regional appearances.
Then this past offseason, Pollard jumped to take over the Virginia program whose head coaching position had been vacated by Brian O’Connor leaving for the Mississippi State job. It really was an opportunity for Duke to fall back into obscurity, but the Blue Devils made a great hire in highly-regarded former Wake Forest pitching coach Corey Muscara. Time will tell how well the hire works out, but so far it’s been solid.
As you’d expect with Pollard’s departure, a huge chunk of the roster hit the transfer portal. Several players followed Pollard to Virginia, including star OF A.J. Gracia, 1B Sam Harris, P/OF Kyle Johnson, and LHP Henry Zatkowski. Others found other homes in the ACC, such as RHP Gabe Nard (Florida State) and C Macon Winslow (North Carolina, an unforgiveable sin).
Muscara did a heck of a job building a roster, following Pollard’s well-established playbook of pulling players to Durham from other high-academic institutions. That gameplan is coming together pretty well, and while there are holes in the roster, the group could be considered greater than the sum of its parts, which is a testament to Muscara and the coaching staff pulling this group together.
One thing that’s immediately going to jump out at you is the aggressiveness the Blue Devils have on the basepaths. They are 3rd in the country with 116 stolen bases (on 135 attempts), a figure that far outpaces any other ACC school (Boston College is 2nd in the conference with 81 stolen bases). It’s a group that gets on base at a solid enough clip (.394 OBP), but has a major weakness in strikeouts (23.0 K%, 14th in the ACC). Given the speed of the collective group, they could find a little more success getting on top of the ball. Losing Davidson transfer OF Cider Canon (what a name!) was a huge blow to the team, as well. He’ll be back later in the year, but it could be too late by then.
Muscara has found an ace in SR RHP Aidan Weaver and Columbia transfer rSR RHP Andy Leon has outpaced all expectations, but finding that third weekend starter has been an issue, as has been a bullpen that doesn’t seem to have enough quality arms to get to closer SO RHP Ben Dean. Duke has allowed 7+ runs in 8 of 15 ACC games, while High Point, Campbell, East Carolina (twice), and Davidson have all exceeded that 7-run mark in Duke’s last five midweek games.
There is talent here, and the program appears to be in good hands with Muscara, but the recipe for success for Duke this year is simple: score a bunch of runs and get length from the starting pitcher. Anything outside of there and the Blue Devils are in trouble.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: LHP Ryan Marohn (JR) vs RHP Aidan Weaver (SR)
Saturday: RHP Heath Andrews (JR) vs RHP Peter Lemke (JR)
Sunday: TBD vs RHP Andy Leon (rSR)
Key Players:
Offense
C Matthew Strand (rSR) – .340/.414/.649, 7 2B, 7 HR, 10.8 BB%, 27.0 K%, 9-9 SB. Grad transfer from Samford has been a bit of a surprise for Duke considering he only had 127 PA over four years in Birmingham. Strikeouts are an issue, but he’s been excellent when making contact. His work behind the plate has been more suspect, as he’s thrown out just 2-of-53 (3.8%) of base stealers this year, but has allowed just one passed ball all year.
2B R.J. Hamilton (rSO) – .316/.430/.500, 4 2B, 3 HR, 10.4 BB%, 19.4 K%, 19-21 SB. Transfer from Vanderbilt where he only got 3 AB last year after missing all of 2024 with a knee injury. Former high recruit who is clearly coming into his own this year. Should start shooting up draft boards.
DH Kaden Smith (rSR) – .341/.429/.670, 6 2B, 7 HR, 8.6 BB%, 23.8 K%, 1-1 SB. Smith has had a really cool story, as outlined this week over at D1 Baseball. The Yanceyville native missed the first couple weeks of the season with a stress fracture in his foot. He can mash.
SS Jake Lambdin (JR) – .273/.392/.554, 13 2B, 7 HR, 12.8 BB%, 16.9 K%, 17-19 SB. Transfer from Xavier, originally from California. The bat has translated well, but the fielding still represents a weakness (13 errors, .909 fielding percentage).
CF Michael Dimartini (JR) – .259/.278/.473, 7 2B, 5 HR, 2.6 BB%, 29.6 K%, 10-11 SB. Transfer from Dayton who started his career at Penn State. Has been on fire of late, holding a seven-game hitting streak and batting .478 in ACC play with 5 2B and a HR.
Pitching
RHP Aidan Weaver (SR) – 4-3, 4.22 ERA, 42.2 IP, 8.2 BB%, 30.6 K%. Hung around Durham after the coaching change, and clearly the move to Corey Muscara has done wonders for him, taking him from bullpen depth to stud starter. Big 6’5, 230 pound righty has a mid-90’s fastball, upper-80’s slider, and a devastating changeup.
RHP Peter Lemke (JR) – 1-2, 3.03 ERA, 29.2 IP, 13.5 BB%, 27.0 K%. Transfer from D3 Denison who has made the jump exceptionally well. Started 13 games for the Big Red over two seasons, but just recently moved into the starting rotation for Duke. Low-90’s heat among a five-pitch mix.
RHP Andy Leon (rSR) – 2-2, 5.57 ERA, 32.1 IP, 9.7 BB%, 24.1 K%. Grad transfer from Columbia. Earned 2nd Team All-Ivy League honors in 2023 then had his 2024 cut short due to injury and threw just 2.0 innings last year. Has been a mixed bag, and struggled a bit in ACC play, but did go 5.1 IP of 1-run ball against FSU with 9 K, just to show the potential.
RHP Ben Dean (SO) – 5-0, 2.55 ERA, 24.2 IP, 13.0 BB%, 39.8 K%. Transfer from Dayton, who had control issues with the Flyers but has honed it in and turned into one of the best relievers in the country. Tied for the 4th highest Whiff% (49.8%) in all of D1, while having the 3rd best Z-Contact% (percentage of contact on pitching in the strike zone) at 61.8%. Low-90’s fastball, mixed with a curve and change.
Quick! Fun Facts!
Running late on this… maybe next time.
The Key To A Series Win For State
The weakness of this Duke team is the bullpen, especially with moving Lemke into the starting rotation. State needs to work counts and get to that bullpen early.
Prediction
Losing Jacob Dudan is a huge loss for the Wolfpack, but I think State rallies around this to win the series.
Outcome: The Pack take two of three.
