GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The baseball team finished its season in the same manner that it had played all year. The players were able to come close, but the lack of a consistent bullpen lost the game for the Blue Devils in the end.
On Tuesday, Duke faced Maryland in the play-in game of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The game was close for seven innings, but the Terrapins gained an insurmountable lead in the eighth inning. Maryland scored six runs on five hits, four of which were doubles. That was too much for the Blue Devils to recover from, as they lost to the Terps, 10-3.
Senior Craig Starman started for the Blue Devils and held Maryland at bay for seven innings. In the eighth inning, however, Starman could no longer control the Terps' offense, and Maryland scored four runs before Starman was replaced by freshman Stephen Cannon.
"Craig Starman's a heck of an ACC pitcher," head coach Steve Traylor said. "We really thought he'd give us a strong game. You could see when he started to [get tired] in the eighth inning a little bit. If you've got someone that's been effective in the bullpen you can go to them right away."
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they didn't have such a person. Cannon pitched to one batter as the Terps added another run, and was then replaced by junior Scott Schoeneweis. Schoeneweis pitched to two Terrapins, who nailed him for off-the-wall doubles, before he was able to strike out the final Maryland batter for the inning.
Freshman Clayton Connor came in for Duke in the ninth inning, and Terp shortstop Jeff Wagner sent Connor's second pitch over the left field wall to push Maryland's final margin up to seven runs.
"We just basically were having trouble finding somebody in our bullpen to go out and get people out," Traylor said. "The guys we put in there weren't able to get people out. That's pretty simple. We just need a bullpen."
For seven innings of the game, Duke was able to keep within striking distance. Terrapin designated hitter Garry Maddox sailed a two-run homer off Starman on just the fourth pitch of the game, giving Maryland an early 2-0 lead. Maryland's first baseman, John Marciano, hit a solo homer off Starman in the top of the third.
The Blue Devils responded quickly in the bottom of the third. Freshman right fielder Andy Losty began his successful offensive streak of the evening with a single, and was eventually driven home by a single to left field by freshman left fielder Michael Fletcher.
Duke was able to shake up Maryland pitcher Pat Baker in the bottom of the fourth, as Baker walked senior shortstop Jeff Piscorik and freshman center fielder Adam Geis. After an infield sacrifice to advance the runners, Losty came to the plate and again responded by getting a hit off Baker. Losty nailed a double to left field--on a full count--to send both Piscorik and Geis across the plate.
"[Losty] has done a good job," Traylor said. "He's been a kid that really hasn't gotten much of a chance to play this year. Over the last week or so, he's just done a great job."
Duke could not get much more power out of its bats after the fourth inning, though. Senior third baseman Chris Hammond shot a line drive to center field for a single in the seventh and sophomore second baseman Frankie Chiou singled to left in the bottom of the ninth.
Although Duke's season ended with a school record of 14 straight ACC losses, Traylor was quick to point out the challenges this year's team has faced, since many of the players on the team were freshmen and sophomores who did not have much experience.
"You don't throw a bunch of freshmen out here like we've had to do this year and expect them to beat very many people in this conference," he said. "It's been a great experience for those guys--it's going to make them better down the road."
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