Each week, Blue Zone analyzes the best athletes of the spring, looking at their performance that week and the season as a whole. Next up is Charlie Beilenson.
Duke fans, get ready to hear a lot of AWOLNATION’s “Sail” at Jack Coombs Field this season. That was the theme music for graduate pitcher Charlie Beilenson, and the closer was a big key to the 13th-ranked Blue Devils’ 7-0 start to the 2024 season.
The former Brown Bear came to Durham last season for his final two years of eligibility and quickly emerged as head coach Chris Pollard’s top option out of the bullpen. Beilenson, a Los Angeles native, pitched an incredible 60.2 innings, breaking the school record with 39 appearances. In that pitch, Beilenson posted a 3.86 ERA and struck out 78 batters, including five strikeouts in last year’s NCAA regional tournament game against Rider.
Considering Duke’s interesting pitching situation last year, where two of the Blue Devils’ best starters in Jonathan Santucci and Luke Fox lost the season to injury, Pollard was one of the most reliable arm pitchers due to a lack of pitchers. It makes some sense that you had to stay with your ex. depth. With Santucci back to full health and Duke using Fran O’Shell III and James Tallon as some of the nation’s best relievers, it would be no surprise to see Beilenson’s role reduced slightly this season.
In fact, Beilenson’s rubber arm appears to have carried over into this season, with the opposite happening. The right-handed pitcher has appeared in four of the Blue Devils’ seven games so far this season, recording a save in every game he has appeared in.
When Duke moved to Conway, South Carolina, Pollard turned to the closer, closing the door on two currently ranked opponents in Indiana and Coastal Carolina. In the season opener against the Hoosiers, Beilenson pitched spectacularly, pitching the final 2.2 innings of a close game, with five strikeouts and allowing just one hit over the course of the Blue Devils’ opener. He declared a victory. In the weekend’s final game against the host Chanticleers, he pitched 2.1 innings, using a booming fastball and wipeout slider to allow no runners and give Duke a big comeback in a rematch of last year’s district championship. brought about victory.
That work continued into the second week of the season, when the Ivy League player finished his contract on Tuesday and Friday against Liberty and Northwestern, where he had a relatively easy run and had a string of shutout games, pitching seven innings and allowing just two hits. He left a season record.
As it stands, the current program appearances and save records are Talon’s 12 in 2023, compared to Beilenson’s 39 last year. If this trend continues, and Pollard continues to make the decision to quickly beat the Californian in every close fight, Beilenson will be on his way to the top. This spring’s program record book.
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