The injury-plagued baseball team (24-13, 7-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) fell below .500 in the ACC this weekend, losing two of three games to the Maryland Terrapins at historic Jack Coombs Field. After winning big on Friday afternoon, 17-11, the Blue Devils suffered from a lack of run support Saturday and Sunday, falling 5-3 and 6-2.
Frankie Chiou provided one of the weekend's only highlights for the Blue Devils on Friday. The senior second baseman, who returned last week from a sprained ankle, broke Duke's all-time record for runs scored, previously held by both Ryan Jackson and Quentin McCracken, with 187. Chiou is only six walks away from breaking the all-time record in that category as well.
"That's a nice accomplishment," Chiou said. "That's something I'll always treasure, but this weekend kind of put a down note on it."
The bad news started for Duke coach Steve Traylor before the weekend even began, when it was determined that junior catcher Gregg Maluchnik, who was batting .380, would be sidelined for the rest of the season with a broken hand. Two of Traylor's right-handed pitchers were also unavailable this weekend-senior Richard Dishman, Sunday's scheduled starter, was out with a muscle strain in his right arm, and junior Jim Wendling was out with a sore shoulder.
The Duke staff responded well after Friday's high-scoring game, giving up only nine earned runs on Saturday and Sunday combined. A lack of run production was the Blue Devils' most obvious handicap.
After leaving men stranded on third base in the first two innings on Sunday, Duke began the scoring in the third inning when freshman shortstop Vaughn Schill scored on a fielder's choice.
In the top of the fourth inning, Maryland answered right back. After Eric Beer reached on an error by right fielder Michael Fletcher, designated hitter Joe Clemente drove him home, smacking a two-run shot off starting pitcher Clayton Connor to give the Terrapins a 2-1 lead.
Clemente tried to score again in the top of the sixth, but his hopes were thwarted by the arm of junior center fielder Adam Geis who, after catching a pop-up, rifled a throw to third base to end the inning.
The Blue Devils' lack of run support continued in the bottom of that inning, as a potential rally was squandered. Geis failed to reach on a bunt, and freshman Ed Conrey's double to left-center one batter later scored Fletcher from third, tying the game at 2-2.
"It would have been a good time to hit a home run, but it's also a good time with no outs to try to get the lead because we were not swinging the bats well-we were having trouble scoring runs," Traylor said about his decision have Geis, who has five home runs on the season, bunt. "I thought about that both ways.... That's just a call I've got to make."
After a 17-minute rain delay in the eighth inning, the Terrapins took the lead over the run-starved Blue Devils. Pinch runner John Bolton scored on two wild pitches by sophomore reliever Teddy Sullivan, who then gave up a two-run shot to left-center by first basemen Adam Ross. The Terps sealed their victory at 6-2 in the ninth when left fielder Larry Long scored on a fielder's choice.
"Again it was the case in about the last two weeks-we've just been killed by people popping a home run on us," Traylor said. "We just need to make better pitches."
Traylor said that he does not think the new catchers behind the plate replacing Maluchnik-Conrey and sophomore Greg Oriscello-are affecting his pitchers.
"No matter who you're throwing to, you've got to make the same pitch to the same spot," he said. "They know where we want it and what pitch we want. So I don't think that's an excuse at all."
The Blue Devils pulled out all the stops on Saturday, only to lose to the Terrapins in the ninth inning on a single to left field by Maryland shortstop Kevin Haverbusch off Schill. Blue Devil left fielder Jeff Staubach bobbled the ball, and two runs scored.
Freshman starter Brad Dupree turned in a splendid performance on the mound, chalking up seven hits, four of which were infield hits, and only one earned run in six innings pitched.
Dupree's performance was all for naught, however, as a Duke pitching change combined with a lack of hitting cost the Blue Devils the game.
"We didn't hit with runners in scoring position," Traylor said. "We didn't get hits when we needed them. I thought Brad Dupree pitched great. That was one of the best starts we've had in a long time."
Dupree gave up a single in the top of the seventh, prompting Traylor to replace him with Sullivan. Sullivan threw a 1-2 fastball to Beer, which the Maryland center fielder smacked out of the park to tie the game at 3-3.
After Sullivan retired the side in the seventh, Traylor brought in Schill, whose five saves lead the conference. The strategy backfired, though, as Schill gave up the two runs to Haverbusch in the ninth and took the loss.
"[Schill's] the best guy we have in the [bull]pen, and we had to pick a spot to use him-in a three-game series we can probably only use him once," Traylor said. "You hope you can shut them out for a couple of innings and score a run."
Schill said he felt mildly fatigued in the ninth inning, but still felt that he had control. He attributed the two-run single to a communication mix-up with catcher Oriscello, who "flashed for a change-up and wanted a fastball instead."
Playing in front of a large crowd at Jack Coombs Field on Friday, the Blue Devils put on a hitting display. Batting around in both the fifth and sixth innings, they amassed a total of 11 runs in those two innings alone, including home runs by both Fletcher and sophomore Jeremy Horowitz. Maryland staged a comeback in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring seven runs altogether, but it wasn't enough to overcome Duke's hitting.
The Blue Devils are now looking ahead to a road trip which includes one game at Campbell on Tuesday and three at Clemson against the Tigers next weekend. During this trip, Traylor says he hopes to re-establish a healthy starting rotation and find a middle reliever to bridge the gap from their starter to their closer.
"We tend to use [Schill] as a closer, and maybe we'll get back to just using him a maximum of one inning, although we'd still like to be able to use him for two," Traylor said. "We've got to establish somebody as a middle reliever."
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