Duke's Griffin Conine back on track in time for NCAA baseball regional

The pressure has dissipated for Griffin Conine, Duke’s power hitting outfielder, as the Blue Devils begin play Friday in the NCAA tournament Athens regional.

Conine has returned to having fun playing the game, and it shows in his performance over Duke’s last 10 games. He has lived up to preseason expectations during that stretch, hitting .514 with four doubles and seven home runs.

The recent turnaround came following a season-long hitting slump that dropped Conine from being Baseball America’s No. 11 college-eligible player for the Major League Baseball Draft in the preseason to No. 23 on the publication’s most-recent list. He went from being a likely first-round selection to possible…