College baseball notebook: Series win over Wake Forest gives new-look Duke its best start since 2008

Updated Mar. 11, 2024 3:26 p.m. ET

Associated Press

Duke and its cast of newcomers have served notice they still will be factors in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Chris Pollard's Blue Devils moved into the top 10 of the national rankings Monday after winning two of three on the road against Wake Forest, which had opened the season No. 1 in the major polls.

Duke (13-2, 2-1 ACC) picked up its first series win over a top-ranked team since 2009 and is out to its best start since 2008. Only two everyday starters returned from the 39-win team that pushed Virginia to three games in the NCAA super regionals.

The Blue Devils are in the top 10 in homers (39), slugging (.637), ERA (3.14), hits allowed per nine innings (6.27) and fielding (.986).

The transfers have produced. Ben Miller (Penn) is batting .492 and slugging .967 with seven homers, Zac Morris (VMI) has seven homers, Logan Bravo (Harvard) is batting .386 and Wallace Clark (Oklahoma) is batting .324 and has been solid at shortstop.

Catcher Macon Winslow (.357, five doubles) and right fielder AJ Garcia (five homers) have been impact freshmen.

Jonathan Santucci came back from injury and is averaging 16 strikeouts per nine innings as the No. 1 starter, and Charlie Beilenson leads the nation with seven saves.

Duke's next test comes this weekend at home against top-10 Clemson.

IN THE POLLS

Arkansas took over for Wake Forest as the No. 1 team by D1Baseball.com and Baseball America.

The Razorbacks (13-2) swept McNeese State and ran its winning streak to nine games. They've won 30 consecutive nonconference home weekend series.

LSU (14-2) took two of three against Xavier and moved to No. 2 in both polls.

Oregon State (15-1), which swept four games from Cal State-Northridge, moved to No. 3 in the D1Baseball.com rankings. Duke's No. 3 ranking by Baseball America is its highest ever.

Wake Forest (12-3) fell to No. 7 in both polls.

STILL UNBEATEN

Texas A&M (16-0) and Florida State (14-0) are the only remaining unbeaten teams in Division I.

The Aggies, despite an impressive road win over Texas on March 5, have played only the 212th-toughest schedule. They open SEC play at top-10 Florida on Friday.

The Seminoles, whose schedule ranks 159th, has a challenging week. They play at Florida on Tuesday before hosting a Notre Dame team that just swept Virginia Tech.

BY GOLLY, CHARLIE

Charlie Condon is a big reason Georgia (16-1) is out to its best start since 1908. He leads the nation in seven offensive categories: batting average (.565), hits (35), homers (12), runs (29), total bases (80), on-base percentage (.659) and slugging (1.290).

FEAST AND FAMINE

UC Irvine set a school record for runs in a 32-2 win over Columbia on Friday in Fresno, California. After banging out 20 hits against the Lions, UC Irvine managed just four in a 13-1 loss to Fresno State in their second game of the day.

All was well again Saturday. Caden Kendle, Will Bermudez and Jacob Stinson hit grand slams as the Anteaters beat Columbus 25-7. UC Irvine has five slams through 14 games, most in a season in program history.

CLEANUP SPOT

LSU's Luke Holman (4-0) has a 0.00 ERA through 24 innings with four walks, 40 strikeouts and a .103 opponent batting average. He allowed no hits in six shutout innings against Xavier on Friday. ... Charlotte pitchers struck out a season-high 19 against Maryland on Friday. That followed an 18-strikeout performance Tuesday against Western Carolina. ... Kansas State's Jacob Frost and Jackson Wentworth pitched a combined no-hitter in a 4-0 win over Cincinnati on Friday. It was the Wildcats' first no-hitter in a Big 12 game. ... TCU’s 13-game win streak ended with a 3-1 loss at Kansas on Friday.

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports