Despite trailing early in its NCAA tournament opener against North Carolina-Wilmington on Friday afternoon, the Duke baseball team surged to a 12-3 win thanks to an offensive explosion.
Much of that can be attributed to MJ Metz, a graduate transfer from Division III Trinity who hit three home runs and five RBI in the victory. That stat line alone is impressive enough without context, but that outing was even more phenomenal than initially meets the eye.
Metz’s appearance against the Seahawks on Friday was his first since May 23, when he suffered a knee injury that was later revealed to be a torn ACL. Despite literally having a disconnected ligament in one of his knees, Metz suited up for the Blue Devils and ultimately proved to be the hero in the win.
Duke slugger MJ Metz hits his third home run of the game in their NCAA Tournament opener despite playing on just one ACL… 🤯pic.twitter.com/UpwcGIhcUq
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 2, 2023
After the game, Metz celebrated his prolific performance in the most fitting way possible: Stacking as many baseball caps on his head as he could.
After hitting 3 home runs while playing with a torn ACL, Duke's MJ Metz does a postgame interview while getting many hats stacked on his head. ⚾️🧢pic.twitter.com/VqrOLNkKp5
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 2, 2023
Duke will hope the Metz Magic will continue on Saturday when it plays the victor of the game between Rider and host Coastal Carolina at the Conway Regional.
