Ready for the Moment: Kyle Johnson’s Breakout Day Powers Duke in Historic Super Regional Win

Photo Courtesy of Duke Baseball.

If there’s one word Duke head coach Chris Pollard uses to define standout sophomore Kyle Johnson, it’s this: Ready.

In front of a program-record crowd of 2,686 at Jack Coombs Field, Duke baseball (41-19) opened the Durham Super Regional with a 7-4 win over Murray State (42-15) on Saturday afternoon.

The victory marked the program’s first-ever home postseason game—and it delivered on all fronts.

With AJ Gracia unavailable, sophomore Kyle Johnson stepped into the starting lineup and delivered a monster performance.

Johnson went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, and five RBIs—setting a new career high for hits in a single game and falling one short of matching his personal best in RBIs.

When asked about Kyle Johnson’s standout performance, Coach Pollard couldn’t hide his emotion as he reflected on what it meant to witness him rise to the moment, saying: “I'll say this—pride doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is a guy who started the year in our rotation and in the lineup, then fell out of both. He was working through some things—mechanically on the mound, and with his swing at the plate. But through it all, he never gave up. Not on himself, not on this team, and not on this season. He’s really found his stride again. He worked his way back into the rotation by the final week of the regular season... the perseverance, the resilience, the way he's battled back—it says everything about who he is.”

The Racers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with runs in the second and third innings. But Johnson flipped the momentum with a towering two-run home run to center in the bottom of the third to even the score.

By that point, historic Jack Coombs Field had erupted into chaos—whether it was sparked by Johnson’s stellar performance or the roar that followed a Duke fan’s announcement that North Carolina had fallen to Arizona in Game 2 of their Super Regional.

From there, the Blue Devils took full control.

In the fourth, Johnson laced a ground-rule double to left-center to bring in two more runs, and Jake Berger later crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make it 5-2. Johnson struck again in the sixth, crushing his second double of the day off the center field wall to drive in Macon Winslow.

Ben Rounds followed with a two-out RBI double of his own to extend the lead to 7-2. Murray State answered with a two-run seventh, but graduate right-hander Reid Easterly slammed the door with three innings of strong relief, giving up just two hits and striking out two to earn his fifth save of the season.

Having typically been a dominant force out of the bullpen, Murray State head coach, Dan Skirka, was asked what their approach was to scouting out Johnson not only on the mound but now on the plate.

He laughed and said, “We didn’t have much. We were still waiting on the appeal process (with AJ Gracia), so things were kind of up in the air. But we were preparing for both scenarios. I think Coach Pollard mentioned that if AJ (Gracia) wasn’t able to go, Johnson would likely get the start—so we were ready for that. That said, he didn’t have a ton of at-bats coming in—maybe around 45 or so—so we saw him in that nine-hole spot and figured we’d make him earn it at the plate.”

Fellow standout Owen Proksch also seized the opportunity to shine in Game 1 of the series. He pitched five and two-thirds innings, allowing six hits and two runs, issuing two walks, striking out seven batters, and throwing a total of 107 pitches before being relieved in the top of the sixth.

Regardless of how his outing went, Proksch made sure to emphasize just how vital a role Johnson played in the team's success. “Like I said in the TV interview, what happened tonight isn’t a surprise to anyone. He comes to practice every day like nothing is wrong, like he’s not having the kind of season we all hoped for. He’s just been patiently waiting for his opportunity. As Coach

mentioned, he’s been improving steadily. On Thursdays, we have what we call a sim game for guys who aren’t getting as many at-bats as they’d like, and he takes that seriously—always working to get better. Tonight, all of that hard work showed. He’s an

unbelievable competitor, and it really spoke for itself out there on the field.”

With this landmark win, Duke not only set a new attendance record at Jack Coombs Field but also delivered a powerful message: when called upon, their players are ready to rise. The Blue Devils now turn their focus to Game 2, eager to build on this momentum and keep their postseason run alive at noon tomorrow.