The baseball team opened its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule this weekend by taking one of three games from 17th-ranked North Carolina State at Doak Field in Raleigh.
Duke (10-9 overall, 1-2 ACC) ended a 17-game Wolfpack winning streak with a 13-10 win in the series opener Friday, but State (19-4, 2-1) won Saturday and Sunday to win the three-game set.
The weekend was marked by close games and excellent execution by both teams, as two of the three games were won in the winning team's last at-bat.
"This is one of the best series that I've been associated with since I've been at Duke," said Duke head coach Steve Traylor. "We would have liked to have won more, but we played as well as we could against that pitching."
Friday's game pitted two of the best pitchers in the nation from last year against each other: Duke sophomore ace Scott Schoeneweis and State's Terry Harvey. This game, however, never turned into the pitcher's battle for which it seemed destined, as the final score was 13-10 in 10 innings in favor of Duke.
Ryan Jackson went 3-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI to lead Duke, but his performance alone was not enough to carry the team. The Blue Devils entered the top of the ninth inning trailing 10-8, but managed to rally for two in the ninth and three more in the tenth to win it.
In the ninth, Luis Duarte drove in a run with a no out triple to make it 10-9. Ryan Jackson and Scott Pinoni then struck out to set the stage for senior Sean McNally, who proceeded to single off a 1-2 pitch to tie the score.
N.C. State put together a rally of its own in the bottom of the ninth, putting the winning run on second base with two outs. The next batter singled to left field, but Scott Bles, who had just been put in the game as a defensive replacement during the previous inning, threw a one-hop strike to the catcher to nail the runner by three steps and send the game into extra innings.
"You'll never see a better throw than that even in the major leagues," said Traylor.
The Blue Devils then rallied for three in the top of the tenth to take the win. Freshman catcher Randy Goodroe, another late-inning defensive replacement, delivered the game winning RBI.
"That was one of the best college baseball games I've ever been associated with," said Traylor. "It was an unbelievable win."
Saturday's game did not provide nearly as much excitement, as N.C. State exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the second to put the win out of reach for the Blue Devils. The Wolfpack was led by Tim Tracey, who went 10-for-10 in the first two games of the series. He has been hitting over .700 for the last two weeks of the season.
"We just couldn't get them out," said Traylor. "Their offense just dominated."
The only highlights of the game for the Blue Devils were home runs by Mike King and Ryan Jackson, who would deliver two more blasts on Sunday to pass teammate Scott Pinoni for the all-time Duke home run lead. Jackson had six hits, five of them homers, and ten RBI for the series.
"Jackson was just unbelievable all weekend," said Goodroe.
Sunday was another dramatic game, as N.C. State scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull out an 8-6 victory. Freshman Chris Combs provided the game-winning home run to win it for the Wolfpack. There had been seven lead changes before Combs' blast sealed the win.
"We played exceptional baseball this weekend, but we just didn't have enough pitching to shut them down," said Traylor. "We just don't have the pitching depth, but we have no control over that so we don't worry about that. But this was one of the best offensive series that we've had, especially considering their pitching."
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