Grand slams lift Duke baseball to ACC championship as Blue Devils rout Florida State
Duke rode its strong bats to what turned out to be a Sunday stroll to another ACC baseball championship.
Ben Miller’s grand slam in the fourth inning, followed by another from Devin Obee in the sixth inning, propelled the Blue Devils to a 16-4 win over Florida State in the ACC tournament final at Truist Field.
The win gives Duke its second ACC tournament championship in the past four years, after it won the tournament for the first time in 2021. Counting regular-season championships won in 1956, 1957 and 1961, the Blue Devils now own five ACC titles.
The latest came in emphatic fashion as the No. 6 seed Blue Devils (39-18) scored nine consecutive runs after No. 5 seed Florida State (42-15) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Duke scored five runs in the top of the second to take the lead for good
In the fourth inning, Miller’s blast over the picnic pavilion beyond the left field wall provided a four-run rally to give the Blue Devils a 9-2 lead.
Duke posted another five-run inning in the sixth, powered by Obee’s 406-foot home run, also deep to left field, to take a 14-4 lead. Obee was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Five Duke pitchers handled the nine innings for the Blue Devils on Sunday with James Tallon covering the first three innings. Reliever Charlie Beilenson, named to the all-tournament team, pitched a perfect ninth inning to set off Duke’s celebration.
This is a developing story and will be updated
