Many little league baseball players dream about pitching in game seven of the World Series, but not many of them imagine becoming the next Mariano Rivera or Goose Gossage.

Junior pitcher Ryan Duke was one of those kids, but now he’s made a college career out of being one of the most dominant closers in college baseball and OU history.

Duke has filled the closer position for the past two seasons, and is on the verge of breaking the OU career saves record. He recorded 16 saves and was a third team All-American in 2009 and has been a perfect 10 for 10 in save situations this year, placing him two saves back of the record of 28 set by former OU pitcher Jeff Bajenaru between 1999 and 2000, a record Duke said he doesn’t focus on.

“That’s something I try not to think about too much while I’m out there,” he said.

In fact, the right-hander said he never thought he would have a chance to break any closer records.

Duke was an all-state starting pitcher at Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, during a senior season in which he went 9-2 and struck out 128 batters. He came to OU and made 10 starts during his freshman season.

Coming out of high school and being a starter his first year, he did not think he would have an opportunity to break a closer record at OU, Duke said, but that is how the fates shaped things for him.

Duke struggled some as a starting pitcher, and his freshman year was the last time he started a game. He went 5-2 in 10 starts in 2008, and was sent to the bullpen his sophomore season.

One of the reasons Duke didn’t excel as a starter is because his 5-foot-11-inch, 180-pound frame didn’t instill too much fear into opposing hitters and wasn’t big enough to go enough innings to qualify for a quality start on a consistent basis.

Head coach Sunny Golloway compared Duke’s size to that of Rivera, New York Yankees great and future Hall of Famer.

Golloway said he thought Duke’s frame, along with his two pitches — a low-to-mid 90s fastball and devastating slider — would make for a perfect closer.

Duke was named the team’s closer before the start of last season because he had the best qualities of any Sooner pitcher that a closer needs to be effective, Golloway said.

The qualities Golloway and the coaching staff were looking for included being mentally tough, pitching on the inside half of the plate without fear and having a quality off-speed pitch, which Duke does in his slider.

“At that point, the conclusion was we’re going to close [with] Duke,” Golloway said. “We’re not just going to try it for a week-to-week type deal. We’re going to close Duke.”

And that decision is one Golloway has not and will not regret not just based on Duke’s stats the past two seasons, but also because he has taken a lot of stress off the coaches and players when he enters the game. They know that when Cross Canadian Ragweed’s “Don’t Need You” plays, the game is usually over.

But “Don’t Need You” has not played recently to mark a save opportunity. Duke has not had a save opportunity since recording a save April 9 against Missouri after setting a pace where he recorded at least one or two saves a week at the beginning of the season.

Saves have been hard to come by recently because of the team’s inconsistent play, Golloway said.

“We haven’t had any save opportunities lately, and he might not get [the record] if we don’t get back to being our old way,” he said.

Being moved out of the starting position his freshman season to the closer role the past two years has not harmed the pitcher who has been dominating at the end of the game.

Becoming the closer has helped Duke’s draft status, Golloway said. If Major League scouts weren’t impressed enough with his high school career, then the career Duke has made as OU’s closer leaves little room for doubt that he will be a quality pitcher in the pros.

“I think [scouts] are thinking he can be a starter, he can be a set up guy, he can be a closer,” Golloway said. “I think they sit in the stands and they know what I know, and I think what I know is we’re using him in a situation where he can be the most effective.”

Whether Duke does reach and break the saves record is hard to tell, but it’s certain he’s a rare talent out of the bullpen and should have a good future because of that talent.

“[The record] would be an honor, especially with the guys that have been here before me,” Duke said.