Baseball Fall World Series Begins Wednesday

10/18/2017 9:40:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke baseball team is set for its annual Fall World Series Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 18-21 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The three-game series starts at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18, resumes at 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20 and concludes at 4 p.m., Saturday Oct. 21. All three games are open to the public and admission is free.

Game one of the series features a pitching matchup between senior Jack Labosky and graduate student Sam Granoff. Senior Ryan Day goes up against freshman Josh Nifong Friday before freshman Bryce Jarvis faces senior Mitchings Stallings in Saturday's finale.

Duke heads into the final week of its 2017 fall slate and will transition into its offseason workout program at the end of the month.

In addition to 14 scrimmages, the Blue Devils also faced the Czech Republic National Team in an exhibition game Friday, Oct. 13. Duke fell in a pitchers' duel, 2-1. Junior shortstop Zack Kone had two hits to pace the offense while graduate students Ethan DeCaster and Granoff combined to strike out five batters without issuing a walk in four scoreless innings.

Duke looks to improve upon its 30-28 (12-18 ACC) record from a year ago as the Blue Devils bring back nine starting position players from the 2017 roster in addition to their entire weekend rotation. With wins over then-No. 14 Clemson and No. 10 Virginia in the 2017 ACC Tournament, Duke secured 30 wins for the fourth straight season, marking the program's first stretch of four-consecutive 30-win campaigns since the Blue Devils compiled a run of seven straight from 1992-98.

The Blue Devils return 22 letterwinners from this past season's squad, including 2017 Cape Cod League Baseball MVPs Griffin Conine (.298/.546/.425) and Jimmy Herron (.326/.474/.412). Duke also returns starting center fielder Kennie Taylor (.314/.496/.383), second baseman Max Miller (.237/.299/.363), shortstop Zack Kone (.291/.359/.345), third baseman Jack Labosky (.275/.464/.399), catcher Chris Proctor (.255/.309/.305) and designated hitter Michael Smiciklas (.302/.436/.385).

On the mound, Duke returns 68 percent of its innings pitched from last season, led by seniors Mitch Stallings (4-3, 4.50 ERA, 73.2 IP) and Ryan Day (4-3, 3.30 ERA, 76.0 IP). Sophomore Adam Laskey (4-5, 6.83 ERA, 55.1 IP), sophomore Graeme Stinson (3-1, 6.67 ERA, 28.1 IP), senior Chris McGrath (1-2, 4.12 ERA, 24.0 IP), senior Jack Labosky (2-4, 4.50 ERA, 34.0 IP) and sophomore Matt Mervis (2-2, 7.83 ERA, 23.0 IP) all logged 20-plus innings for Duke a season ago.

In addition, Duke added 14 newcomers into the mix in freshmen Chris Crabtree, Thomas Girard, Matt Dockman, Wil Hoyle, Toma Shigaki-Than, Bryce Jarvis, Steve Mann, Joey Loperfido, Josh Nifong, Michael Rothenberg and Tyler Wardwell as well as graduate student transfers Ethan DeCaster (Creighton), Sam Granoff (San Francisco) and Akaash Agarwal (California).

Duke opens the 2017 campaign Feb. 16-18 at Vanderbilt.

2017 Fall World Series Rosters
Blue Roster	Black Roster
Jack Labosky (Wed. Starter)	Sam Granoff (Wed. Starter)
Ryan Day (Fri. Starter)	Josh Nifong (Fri. Stater)
Bryce Jarvis (Sat. Starter)	Mitch Stallings (Sat. Starter)
Akaash Agarwal	Ethan DeCaster
Al Pesto	Matt Mervis
Coleman Williams	Toma Shigaki-Than
Chris McGrath	Adam Laskey
Matt Dockman	Thomas Girard
Michael Smiciklas	Bill Chillari
Steve Mann	Chase Cheek
Griffin Conine	Kennie Taylor
Zack Kone	James McGhee
Wil Hoyle	Tyler Wardwell
Peter Zyla	Joey Loperfido
Chris Crabtree	Erikson Nichols
Michael Rothenberg	Chris Proctor
Aaron Therien	Chris Dutra
Hunter Davis	Max Miller
Cameron Kovachik	Jimmy Herron
	Graeme Stinson
	Zack Hersh