Senior Day wasn't exactly a booming success for the baseball team.
Duke's six-member senior class ended their home careers in a way it would rather not remember Sunday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field as the Blue Devils (32-14, 5-12 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) dropped two games to archrival North Carolina (27-16, 10-7 ACC), giving the Tar Heels a sweep of the weekend series.
UNC capped the sweep by opening up a 9-0 lead on Duke and holding on for a 13-10 win in the finale. Jay Madeira, Ryan Earey and Rob Miano each hit home runs in the first three innings for the Tar Heels en route to the nine-run lead. They chased starting pitcher Brent Reid (8-3) in the process, knocking him out after just an inning and a third, having surrendered seven runs (four earned), on just three hits and a walk. His replacement, Ryan Carradonna, didn't fare much better, surrendering five runs over the next 4 and 1/3 innings. Neither pitcher was aided by his defense, which committed six errors on the day, including four in the first three innings.
"That's as bad a two or three innings as we've played here in the last four years," Duke coach Steve Traylor said. "We had four errors and this is a defensive team that can play. You can't beat anyone with six errors."
Having dug themselves a huge hole, the Blue Devils surged back in the bottom half of the third, tagging UNC starter Mike Bynum for five runs. Vaughn Schill started the inning off with a solo shot, and Jeff Becker followed with a single to left. Michael Fletcher brought Becker home with a double, and J.D. Alleva kept things going with a bloop single. Catcher Gregg Maluchnik then cleaned the table with a titanic three-run homer.
The bottom of fourth inning appeared to be a repeat of the previous frame as Maluchnik strode to the plate with the bases loaded and two out, with Duke trailing 9-5. It appeared as though the game was destined to be tied at 9-9 as Maluchnik lifted a ball to deep right field. Tar Heel rightfielder Kevin Davidson turned fate back to UNC's side, however, by scaling the fence and making a miraculous catch right in front of the scoreboard.
"I couldn't really tell where I was when I went up to make the catch, but luckily I came down with it," Davidson said. "Actually, the scoreboard kept me from falling over the fence. My arm hit the 'H' in Home and I was able to stay in play. It was a nice hit, but it saved us and really lifted our spirits."
Perhaps fate did play a role in the catch as Davidson only started in rightfield because of the unexplained absence of starter Ty Godwin, who did not show up to meet the team bus Sunday.
"Godwin just didn't show up today," Tar Heel coach Mike Roberts said. "Kevin makes the start today because Ty didn't show. There's no doubt it was a tremendous catch. If he doesn't make it, the game's 9-9; it became the difference in the final score."
Duke eventually pulled to within 12-10 on a pair of homers by Ed Conrey but could not score off UNC closer Derrick DePriest in the last three innings.
The day started off on a sour note for the Blue Devils as they picked up the action where Saturday left off, in the 10th inning of game No. 2, knotted at 6-6. Three batters into the resumed game, however, UNC put the game away as Brian Roberts drilled a two-run homer to left off Schill.
"I was pleased with the way we played [Saturday]," Traylor said. "It was a great college baseball game. We knew it could be trouble going into [Sunday] though because the top of their order was due up, and they'd been tough all weekend. But we had our best pitcher in there in Vaughn Schill, and he challenged their best hitter and he hit a homer. You can't be upset with that."
The Blue Devils never really had a chance in Friday's opener as they fell behind 7-1 before losing by a final count of 9-5. Chris Capuano struggled in the start for Duke, as did all three Blue Devil starting hurlers on the weekend.
"It's the same guys who've been pitching all year for us and getting lots of quality starts," Traylor said. "They picked a bad time to put ourselves in a hole. Brad Dupree did pitch well for us, twice, and he's probably earned a start next week at Maryland."
The sweep, which is the fourth that Duke has suffered this year, drops the Blue Devils out of contention for an at-large bid to postseason play.
"If making the NCAA Regionals has been a motivating factor for us, that talk can cease," Traylor said. "The only way we can make it now is by winning the ACC Tournament. We have two series left on the road where we can jockey for position in the tournament."
The baseball team returns to action Tuesday at 3 p.m. in a home contest versus Greensboro College. Duke's Wednesday game at VMI has been canceled.
Jeff Kessler contributed to this story.
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