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Baseball hands Clemson first ACC loss**

The Duke baseball team became the first team to hand Clemson a loss in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season.

Clemson (38-9, 14-1 in the ACC) had been 12-0 entering this weekend's series at Jack Coombs Field, but Duke (22-15, 5-7 in the ACC) scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday to steal the win. The Tigers won two of the three games in the series.

Saturday's game, which was played before a season-high 575 fans, featured five lead changes as the two teams battled almost evenly for the first five innings.

Clemson then exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of two Duke errors to grab a 7-4 lead.

"[The win is] as sweet as it gets," said head coach Steve Traylor. "They have the best pitching staff in the conference and one of the best in college baseball. To come back against that pitching staff is a real tribute to our hitters. [Chiou's] hit was a great thing for a freshman to do, especially against an undefeated ACC team."

Duke had almost broken Clemson's undefeated mark on Friday, as the Tigers had to score two runs in the top of the seventh to pull out the win.

The game was actually played in three installments, as there was an 80 minute rain delay in the bottom of the fifth, and the last two innings of the game were postponed until Saturday because it became too dark to play Friday night.

Clemson dominated early in the game, as it jumped out to a 5-2 lead after four innings. But Duke mounted a rally in the pouring rain in the bottom of the fifth to temporarily take the lead.

Chris Hammond, Luis Duarte and Ryan Jackson loaded the bases to start the inning on a walk and two singles. Pinoni drove in one run with a sacrifice fly, but McNally struck out as the rain began to come down harder. With two outs, Mike King strode to the plate and walloped a three-run blast to give Duke a 6-5 lead right before the game was postponed due to the rain.

"I just wanted to make contact and hit the ball hard," King said. "I just got it up and the wind took it out."

After the delay, Clemson took advantage of a Scott Schoeneweis throwing error to score two runs and reclaim the lead.

"We should have been out of that inning," Traylor said. "But one play doesn't decide the outcome of a game."

At the close of that inning, the umpires decided to postpone the rest of the game. Saturday Duke did not manage to get a single baserunner in the final two innings off of Winchester, who picked up his fifth save.

Besides the few crucial errors, Duke played well defensively. Duarte put on a clinic in right field, as he made two sliding catches, a diving catch in foul territory, and a catch at the wall to save a potential home run over the weekend.

"Before I was a little uneasy out there," said Duarte, a converted infielder. "But now I'm more confident and I want to catch every ball up in the air."

Sunday featured an impressive pitching display by Clemson starter Kris Benson, who shut out the potent Duke offense and held the Blue Devils to only seven hits, none of them for extra bases. Sunday was the first time that Duke has been shut out all season.

Casey Jowers was the only Blue Devil with more than one hit, as he went 2-for-3. Jackson did manage to get one hit to extend his hitting streak to 26 games.

"It was tough coming back from two one-run games," Pinoni said. "[Benson] didn't seem overpowering, but he placed the ball real well. We just didn't get the hits when we needed to."

Duke's next game is Wednesday, when it plays a rematch against East Carolina, who beat the Blue Devils 12-5 last week. Next weekend, Duke hosts another ACC series against Virginia.

"We need to win those and get the bats rolling again," Pinoni said.

Duke does not play any games during finals week, but it will have to travel to face No. 2 Florida State during the first week of May. The Blue Devils then close out their ACC schedule by hosting North Carolina and Wake Forest.

"We need to pick up the pace in the ACC in order to get a bid [to the NCAA tournament]," Jackson said.