To lose two out of three games to an intrastate rival is no doubt disappointing, but that disappointment grows when the team could've easily won two, or even all three ballgames.
Lack of clutch hitting, base running mistakes and fielding errors cost the baseball team (16-5, 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) dearly as it dropped two of three games to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-3, 2-1), by counts of 1-3, 16-12 and 3-5 at Hooks Stadium in Winston-Salem.
The weekend got off to an inauspicious and telling start for Duke on Friday, as its first three outs in ACC play came on a triple play in the first inning.
"That definitely hurt us," Duke coach Steve Traylor said. "We should've had a run in and two outs. As the game wore on, that run became very important and loomed a lot larger by the end of the game."
Vaughn Schill's second single of the day drove in Adam Geis to give Duke a 1-0 lead in the third, extending Schill's hitting streak to 14 games. However, the Blue Devils would muster no more against Deacon lefty John Hendricks. The sophomore pitched seven-and-a-third innings of one-run baseball.
Not to be outdone, Duke starter Richard Dishman (2-1, 3.54 earned-run average) sat down 10 of the first 11 Deacons he faced, but gave up a two-out, two-run single to Ben Danosky in the fourth to give Wake a 2-1 lead. Dishman was stingy otherwise, tossing six and two-thirds innings, allowing only those two runs, striking out eight and walking only one.
"That's the best Richard Dishman has thrown here in four years," Traylor said. "He was very much in command, did everything we could've asked him for."
Though Duke's heralded offense could not manage anything more than a run against Hendricks and reliever Jeremy Ward, the bats came alive the next day. The team pounded out 14 hits against last-year's Wake team MVP Michael Holmes and a parade of relievers. Jeff Becker led the team with a 4-for-5, 3 RBI performance. Ironically, in this slugfest, Schill was collared in six trips to the plate to end his hitting streak.
Freshman Brad Dupree (3-1, 6.25 ERA) lasted only into the third inning as he surrendered seven runs. Despite Duke's early barrage, the Deacons held an 11-9 lead entering the eighth.
In the eighth inning, Duke took advantage of some defensive lapses on Wake's part, scoring six times on only three hits to take a 15-11 lead. Schill pitched the final two innings to notch his fourth save of the season and freshman Steve Schroeder picked up his first collegiate win with three-and-a-third innings of relief.
In the rubber match on Sunday, Blue Devil starter Chris Capuano (3-1, 3.60) was greeted by a lead-off bomb from Josh Itzoe. The freshman then gave up a two-run homer in the same frame to Ricky Mendez to put Duke in an early 3-0 hole.
"When you fall behind in the count against these ACC hitters, it's tough because they know you're coming with your fastball and they're going to be able to sit on it," Capuano said. "I left a couple of pitches about belt high and they poked it out."
After slowly climbing back into the game, the Blue Devils gave the game away in the bottom half of the seventh. With a runner on first and no outs, Capuano fielded two consecutive Wake bunts, and both times threw wild attempting to force the lead runner, setting up a bases-loaded, no out situation.
"Obviously they're automatic plays that I should be able to make 100 percent of the time," Capuano said. "But you have to move on, focus on the situation at hand and not worry about the errors."
The defensive letdowns continued in the inning as a Capuano fastball got by Maluchnik, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Larry Marino's sacrifice fly provided an insurance run for the Deacons.
Duke had more than its share of chances to come back though. In the eighth inning, the Blue Devils loaded the bases with no outs before Michael Fletcher struck out and Geis grounded into a double play. Similarly in the ninth, Duke placed two runners on with no outs before another double play killed the rally.
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