DURHAM, N.C. — There have been many, many occurrences in the history of sports where an unexpected commodity has a career day in the biggest of games.

Duke outfielder Kyle Johnson had that day today, much to the dismay of Murray State in Game 1 of the NCAA Baseball Championship Durham Super Regional. The No. 9 hitter in the Blue Devils lineup and only batting .228 this season, Johnson, by far, carried the biggest stick, going 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubled and five massive RBIs to lead host Duke to a 7-4 win over the Racers and a 1-0 lead in the series to determine a spot in the College World Series in Omaha.

Duke (now 41-19) will be seeking its first visit to Omaha since 1961 when it meets the Racers (42-15) in Game 2 Sunday at 11 a.m. It is not yet known if the game will be nationally televised. The Racers are making their first venture in a Super Regional.

For a time, it appeared the Racers had carried the magic they captured last week in winning a stacked Oxford Regional in Mississippi to North Carolina. Heading to the bottom of the third inning, the Racers were in charge of a 2-0 lead on a Dan Tauken RBI sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Dom Decker.

It was in the bottom half that Johnson  began making his presence felt. After teammate Jake Berger led off the bottom of the third with a walk against Racer starting pitcher Nic Schutte, Johnson blasted the tying homer well over the left-center-field wall. 

An inning later, and after the Racers were unable to score after putting two men on base, Johnson struck again. This time, he found the left-center-field gap with the bases loaded, scoring two runs. That was followed by a run-scoring wild pitch that pushed the lead to 5-2. 

The favored Blue Devils of the strong Atlantic Coast Conference (which has five teams in this year’s Supers, including Murray State’s in-state compatriot, Louisville) increased their advantage in the sixth. Again, it was Johnson supplying a key hit with another double that almost cleared the center-field wall and made the score 6-2. Teammate Ben Rounds then finished the Devils’ scoring with a double of his own to right, leaving his team ahead by a comfortable five runs.

However, Murray State was this year’s co-regular-season champion and tournament champion of one of college baseball’s traditional powers — the Missouri Valley Conference. The Racers showed they belong in that renowned league (that is fielding a Supers team for the third year in a row) this season and showed that stuff in the late innings today, making this more than interesting.

In the seventh, the Racers loaded the bases and forced the Devils to bring their ace — lefty Reid Easterly — out of the bullpen. Possessor of the ACC’s lowest ERA, Easterly was immediately met by Decker (who, if not for Johnson, probably would have been the player of the game) with a solid single to left-center that cut the lead to 7-3. That was part of a superb 4-for-5 day at the plate for Decker, who hit the ball hard in every at-bat. 

With the bases still loaded, Luke Mistone made a bid to ignite a big inning with a liner to left-center but it stayed in the air long enough for the afore-mentioned Johnson to make the catch from his center field spot. It was, however, deep enough to score another run from third and cut the lead to only three runs with only one out. However, the Racers could draw no closer as Easterly retired Will Vierling on a hard lineout to right and struck out Tauken to end the threat.

Now, the Racers were in the Duke trap, where the Devils were 34-0 when leading after seven frames and that did not change today. Easterly retired the final six Racer batters in order to seal the win.

There was another trap into which the Racers fell today and it is one that has driven Duke opponents crazy all season. With a ridiculous 395 walks drawn this season, Duke was the hands-down national leader in this category before today.

In this game, the Devils drew eight more and had two other batters hit by pitches. However, it was how Duke draws their walks that makes them very dangerous as they are very adept at fouling off pitches, which ultimately sends opposing pitch counts soaring. Even more frustrating for the Racers today, many of those walks came after their hurlers had Duke hitters well behind in the count, only for them cut the deficit with fouls and, eventually, winning the at-bat with free passes. 

Schutte, who was outstanding last week in Oxford, was a big victim of this, allowing five walks himself as he was unable to finish the fourth inning after being forced into 88 pitches. In Game 1 last week against host Mississippi — 2022 CWS champion — Schutte threw 119 pitches and appeared to be in trouble in the fourth inning before escaping that inning with minimal damage. He then righted himself by retiring the dangerous Rebels in order in both the fifth and sixth frames to reach the seventh when it had not seemed possible.

Along with Decker’s hitting, the Racers won the hits battle today, 9-6. Another strong positive was the performance of freshman right-handed reliever Reese Oakley, who had a forgettable experience last week in Oxford with two very rough appearances against Georgia Tech and the second game with Ole Miss.

Today, Oakley showed why he was so highly touted as a recruit from nearby Marshall County, only allowing one hit and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. 

And there was one more positive for the Racers today … seeing Easterly. One of the top hurlers in college baseball, the Racers faced him for three innings and proved they can score against him. 

There is also a potential issue for the Devils as Johnson, on his grab of Mistone’s liner in the seventh, appeared to injure a foot or ankle. In fact, after ending his day with a single off Oakley in the eighth, he was lifted, visibly in discomfort.

Johnson is also a starting pitcher for Duke and is its usual Day 2 starter. His status for Game 2 on Sunday is not known. However, being without a key weapon was something the Devils had to do today anyway.

A.J. Gracia, a starting outfielder who is considered by many observers to be the Devils’ best player, was suspended for today’s game after an incident in last week’s Athens Regional in Georgia. Gracia was ruled to have brought a construction helmet that is used to celebrate Duke home runs onto the field, which is against NCAA rules and warrants a one-game suspension.

He is expected to be in the Duke lineup on Sunday.