All winning streaks must come to an end.
That's the hard lesson the 19th-ranked baseball team learned Wednesday as it was upset by Wake Forest in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greenville, S.C.
The Blue Devils had won seven games in a row and were coming off of a regular season sweep of the Demon Deacons to finish the season.
Prior to the tournment, head coach Steve Traylor was enthusiastic about his team's chances of bringing home the ACC title.
"Definitely for the first time since I've been here we go down there thinking that we have a legitimate chance [at winning the championship], because that's the kind of baseball we're playing right now," Traylor said.
Yet the Blue Devils had the unfortunate fate of facing All-American pitching prospect Bret Wagner for the second time in four games.
In his first outing agasint Duke, Wagner yeilded a game-winning three-run homer to Scott Pinoni as the Blue Devils won the first game of the series 6-5.
This time, Wagner again yielded six runs, yet that was good enough to give Wake the victory.Ryan Jackson took the loss for the Blue Devils.
Unlike many games in the past month when Duke was able to pull out a come-from-behind win, the Blue Devils were only able to re-capture one run, as Scott Pinoni hit the final out to deep right field.
Duke now moves to the loser's bracket, where it will face North Carolina today. Looking at the common trait the Tar Heels and Demon Deacons share -- they were both swept by the Blue Devils this season for the first time since 1952 -- the omens do not point in the Blue Devils` favor.
Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State were other winners Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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