Head coach Bill Hillier’s decision was likely made long before Brett Smith lined out to end Duke’s season Tuesday.
Nevertheless, with the Blue Devils’ 11-1 loss to Wake Forest closing the book on Duke’s sixth-straight losing campaign under Hillier’s direction, the game will mark the last time the coach will ever don a Duke uniform.
Hillier resigned Wednesday after serving six years as head coach of the Duke baseball team. During his tenure, the Blue Devils posted a 121-214 (34-114 in the ACC) record.
“With all that had gone on with The Chronicle and those allegations, it was kind of expected, and he made a reference to his leaving at practice a couple weeks ago, but it was still obviously sad to see him go,” thirdbaseman J.J. Koterba said. “It definitely did not turn out the way everyone would have liked it to.”
The Chronicle published a report April 15 about alleged steroid abuse and coaching misconduct within the Duke baseball program over the past several years.
The University released a statement in response to the article, which stated that Director of Athletics Joe Alleva and Hillier had agreed before the start of the season that “unless the situation improved significantly” Hillier would not return in 2006.
“Overall, I am obviously not pleased with where we are in baseball right now,” Alleva told The Chronicle in April.
Duke finished the 2005 season with a record of 14-39 (5-25 in the ACC), landing the team at the bottom of the ACC for the fourth time since Hillier took the helm in 2000. The Blue Devils not only continued to struggle, but they actually performed worse than in previous years.
Duke’s .264 winning percentage in 2005 eclipsed its 2000 percentage of .293 as the worst of Hillier’s tenure and marks the program’s most unsuccessful season since going 10-35 in 1988.
Furthermore, Hillier’s team made history in 2005, completing the season without a single victory on the road, posting a record of 0-19 away from Jack Coombs Field. Since 1935, when home and away records were first kept, Duke has never finished a season without a road win—until now.
“Well I think this year on the whole was a disappointment because we had bigger expectations for this team than what actually happened,” second baseman Adam Murray said. “The bottom line is we didn’t get it done.”
Despite the focus Hillier placed on offense in his recruiting prior to the 2005 season, Duke’s team batting average dropped slightly from last year’s paltry .267 to .264.
The biggest factors that contributed to the Blue Devils’ lack of success this past season, however, stemmed from a combination of poor defense and ineffective pitching. Duke’s .950 fielding percentage was tied for second worst in the ACC, while the pitching staff’s ERA was a conference-high 6.72 and the second worst in program history.
“Throughout the season, we would make big errors in crucial parts of the game, and our opponents would get two or three runs out of one mistake,” Koterba said. “We just never put it together.”
Duke fielders committed 102 errors, which led to 99 unearned runs—the most in the program’s history. The team’s unreliable defense placed an increased burden on a pitching staff that struggled throughout the year.
With a shaky defense behind them, starters Greg Burke, Danny Otero and David Torcise tried to go for the strikeout instead of the putout.
“I do, I probably shouldn’t, but sometimes I’m thinking that,” staff ace Greg Burke said earlier in the season of his tendency to focus on getting the K. “It’s tough when you’re out there, and runs are coming across that aren’t supposed to come.”
As a result, opposing hitters teed off on Duke pitching, posting a .314 batting average for the season.
The Blue Devils’ troubles on the mound stand as the single greatest reason for the team’s inability to compete in 2005. During the 2004 season, in which Duke went a Hillier-best 25-31, Blue Devil pitchers sported a 5.06 team ERA while opposing batters hit .291.
Together, the team’s weak pitching and fielding combined to allow 443 runs on the season, while the Blue Devils could only muster 257.
“The main problem was we couldn’t put the combination of offense, defense and pitching together for any long period of time,” Koterba said.
Alleva said that a national search to find Hillier’s replacement will begin immediately.
“We appreciate the years of service that Bill Hillier gave to our baseball program, both as an assistant and head coach,” Alleva said in a statement. “Bill represented the program with a great deal of class and integrity. We wish Coach Hillier the best of luck in the future.”
Whoever the Athletic Department finds to lead Duke next season, it appears the Blue Devils are ready for life after Hillier.
“It will be interesting to see who they are going to bring in to coach next year,” Murray, a rising senior, said. “Some pieces are definitely in place. It’s always exciting to see who develops over the summer and to have a fresh start. All of us are going to have to take a step back away from the game for a little while and refocus, and then we will have to come back and work hard all summer.”
Michael Moore contributed to this story.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.