The Duke baseball team may have ended spring break on a down note, but the week could be described as nothing but a rousing success. The Blue Devils fell to Clemson 7-2 Sunday afternoon in Durham, but not after taking the first two from the nationally ranked Tigers and upping their record to 18-2, the best start in Duke history.
As the smoked cleared from a hectic week of doubleheaders, Duke had managed to take five of their seven contests. The Blue Devils earned a split of a doubleheader last Sunday against Wake Forest at Jack Coombs Field, then took two at Georgetown, and finished by going 2-1 against number five Clemson.
"Last year we started off strong as well," head coach Steve Traylor said. "Then we hit a real slide the second half of the year. This start shows that we have come back from all of last year's injuries. We've shown that we know how to win again. We have certainly played our share of tight games, but we have consistently put ourselves in a position to win by playing good solid baseball."
The week was supposed to start with three games against Wake Forest over three days, but the extreme cold weather in Durham forced the series to be shortened to two games on Sunday. The Blue Devils took the first game 7-1 on a superb pitching performance by senior Scott Schoeneweis, who went six-and-a-third innings, giving up five hits and one earned run while striking out nine. Sophomore catcher Gregg Maluchnik was the offensive star for Duke, going 2-4 with one run and two RBIs. Sophomore Michael Fletcher went 2-3 on the day with two RBIs, including his team-leading 11th double of the year.
In the second half of the doubleheader, Duke ran into ace Demon Deacon pitcher Mark Seaver. While Duke starter sophomore Richard Dishman was able to hold the Deacs to two runs over five-and-a-third, Seaver allowed only one run over six. Duke's lone run came in the fifth inning when senior centerfielder Mike King doubled, scoring freshman Jordan Litrownik.
Wake was led by sophomore catcher Steve Granese, who belted a second inning home run on only the seventh at-bat of his injury-shortened season. The solo blast was the first of Granese's career. The Deacs scored the winning run in the sixth inning when senior relief pitcher David Darwin hit designated hitter Dave Lardieri with the bases loaded.
"We had two very well-pitched games," Traylor said, "but Mark Seaver was tough."
Wednesday, Duke took both ends of their doubleheader with Georgetown, beginning with a 3-0 victory in the first game. Senior righty Craig Starman went all seven innings for the shutout victory while surrendering only two hits. The Blue Devils scored all their runs in the third inning on RBIs by Fletcher and freshmen Kevin Farmer and Jeff Becker.
In the second game, Duke's strong pitching continued as four pitchers combined for the 2-0 shutout. The winner was freshman Stephen Cowie (1-0), who had just been cleared to pitch again after an injury. Cowie was relieved after three innings by fellow freshman Teddy Sullivan who just received similar clearance. Sophomore Jim Wendling and Darwin finished out the game for the Blue Devils. The four Duke hurlers allowed only three hits over the seven inning game. Freshman Jeremy Horowitz scored the first run for the Blue Devils on an RBI single by junior Frankie Chiou in the top of the third. Freshman John Benik scored later in the inning on a walk by Maluchnik.
"These games were key for us because they allowed us to get Sullivan and Cowie back into the rotation," Traylor said. "Stephen Cowie was a top recruit for us, but he has been injured all year. Getting both guys back does wonders for our pitching."
Duke came home for the final weekend of spring break and managed to snap Clemson's 15-game winning streak. The Blue Devils opened the Saturday doubleheader with a 7-4 win in the first game. Maluchnik continued his stellar offensive week by capping a comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-out grand slam. Clemson had built a 4-3 lead going into the seventh, but Duke was able to load the bases on a leadoff single by sophomore Adam Geis, a walk by Chiou and a single by King. Maluchnik ended the game by launching the 2-2 pitch for the home run. Darwin picked up the win in relief, moving his record to 3-0.
In the second game, Maluchnik drove in both runs as Duke pulled out a 2-0 victory. Maluchnik singled in King in the first and Litrownik in the third to continue his offensive tear. Schoeneweis returned to the mound in brilliant fashion, going all seven innings for the shutout while allowing only three hits.
"Scott Schoeneweis has really shown this week that he is back to being one of the top pitchers in the ACC," Traylor said.
Sunday's game saw Clemson come back for a 7-2 victory. Duke hung close for the first seven innings, trailing only 3-2 before the Tigers put three on the board in the top of the eighth. Cowie took the loss for the Blue Devils as he started again in a limited-pitch role. Clemson ace Kris Benson struck out ten Duke batters over eight innings as he improved to 5-0 on the year.
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