The ACC Tournament seemed so promising for the baseball team, who started out with a stunning 6-5 victory over No. 7 Virginia. Yet, the Blue Devils (25-31) ended the tournament, and its season, with two straight losses.
After upsetting the Cavaliers in a rain delayed game last Wednesday night, the team took on Florida State--a team that had swept the Blue Devils earlier in the season.
In the contest, the Seminoles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, after a lead off walk. Duke was not behind for long, taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second. Catcher Brian Hernandez--one of three Blue Devils with three hits in the game--scored on a double play to equal the score. Then John Berger's two-out RBI gave Duke a one-run advantage.
The lead continued to swing back and forth as the Seminoles tied the game in the forth and took a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Duke pitcher Zach Schreiber was unable to keep Florida State within striking distance, but in the top of the seventh he gave up a pair of runs without recording an out. The Seminoles increased their lead to 6-2 in the eighth off of reliever Kevin Thompson.
Compounding its pitching problems, Duke was unable to produce offensively as Florida State reliever Tyler Chambliss struck out five and only allowed two hits over the final four innings.
Despite the 6-3 loss, Duke head coach Bill Hillier was pleased with the way his team played against the higher-ranked Seminoles who are headed to the NCAA Super Regional.
"I like the way our guys competed," Hillier said. "They battled, but Florida State has a good ball club."
In its final game of the double-elimination ACC Tournament, Duke suffered a 20-2 beating at the hands of North Carolina in the losers bracket.
The problems started early for the Blue Devils as starter Danny Otero went four innings, giving up six runs and taking the loss.
Duke's pitching collapsed even more during a Tar Heel hit parade in the bottom of the seventh. UNC brought 15 men to the plate, scoring nine runs on seven hits, three walks and one hit batsman.
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Duke sent six pitchers to the mound over the final five innings, while UNC's Andrew Miller recorded a complete game giving up just seven hits.
The only inning during which the Tar Heels did not score was the third, the same inning in which the Blue Devils recorded their lone two runs.
The ACC Tournament seemed to mirror the team's season, which began surprisingly strongly and ended with a disappointing showing in its final competition. Duke posted some important victories on the season, including a three-game sweep of Wake Forest and two straight wins over then-No. 17 N.C. State before losing eight of its final nine regular season games.