Not a lot of folks expected the Blue Devils to still be playing baseball.

Duke, which barely missed the preseason Coaches' Poll (the Blue Devils were the first team left out), lost its best arm (and a potential first-round pick heading into the year) in mid-March (Graeme Stinson), spent the first month without another one of its best arms (Adam Laskey) and then lost Laskey in late-April for the season.

Adding injury to injury, starting outfielder Chase Cheek is done after a mid-May knee injury, and starting shortstop Ethan Murray--perhaps Duke's best hitter--missed the regional after getting hit in the face with a pitch on May 21.

For that matter, Duke was one of the last four at-large teams into the NCAA Tournament. And somehow, without all four, the Blue Devils went into the Morgantown Regional, where they beat Texas A&M twice, and WVU, once, to get to Nashville?

Winning two against Vanderbilt would be an even bigger shock, but can Duke do it again?

The biggest question is whether Murray plays this weekend. On Wednesday, Duke's media relations office said Murray was "maybe" available for the weekend, but the freshman wasn't listed in the probable starting lineup this weekend.

Duke went 3-0 in Morgantown without him, even with replacement Wil Hoyle going 0 for 10 with six strikeouts and failing to reach base.

That leaves outfielder Kennie Taylor, a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference pick, as Duke's best remaining player. His 81 hits ranked fourth in the league.

Catcher Michael Rothenberg came on late, with a .443 on-base mark over his last 24 games. He's moved ahead of Ensworth graduate Rudy Maxwell, who's had just one at-bat his past eight games.

Duke also went without second baseman Joey Loperfido, who missed 23 games early in the year. The Blue Devils are 25-11 with him.

Duke got here thanks to pitching, most notably, starters Ben Gross (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5Ks against A&M) and Bryce Jarvis (8 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 Ks against WVU). No. 3 Ben Chillari gave the Blue Devils 4 2/3 of one-run ball in the third start, and a three-man bullpen of Jack Carey, Matt Dockman and Thomas Girard did the rest.

The normally-reliable Girard, who led Duke with nine saves, had a meltdown in the regional opener, throwing 1 1/3 finings of four-run ball that included a couple of hit batsmen and a wild pitch. But Girard came back and threw a perfect inning to end the next day's game, and neither Carey nor Dockman allowed a run in Morgantown.

Combined, the three had more strikeouts than innings pitched, basically on par with Duke's average of 9.7 Ks per nine, which ranked 19th in America. Dockman hasn't been scored on in eight of his last nine appearances.

Jarvis led the team with 11.1 per nine. He'd made it into the fifth in just one of his last four starts prior to the regional, and five of 10 overall.

Gross has lasted at least five innings in eight of his last 11 starts.

Massey composite power ranking: 53 (through May 26)

BoydsWorld ISIR: 53

RPI: 35

RPI strength of schedule: 17

vs. RPI top 25: 8-11

vs. RPI top 50: 12-15

vs. RPI top 100: 18-21

Road: 11-1

Runs scored per 27 outs made: 6.1

Runs allowed per 27 outs recorded: 4.8

Coach: Chris Pollard (617-489-3 overall, 232-171 at Duke)