In most circumstances, one would not expect a baseball team to be pleased following a 1-2 series.
But that is exactly how the Blue Devils (18-19, 1-9 in the ACC) feel after gaining their first conference win of the season against a Georgia Tech team (27-9, 8-4) currently ranked 16th in the nation.
Duke won the first game of the series, 7-6, Friday at historic Jack Coombs Field before dropping Saturday's game 10-7 and yesterday's matchup 6-2.
Coach Steve Traylor remained happy despite the two losses.
"I am very pleased with our team," he said. "We made great strides both individually and as a team. Our starting pitching came around and we are swinging the bat much better. The guys we brought in out of the bullpen also did a good job."
While Friday's game ended in the Blue Devils' favor, it did not begin that way. After three innings, the Blue Devils found themselves down three runs. But in the fourth inning, they pulled within striking distance. Wes Goodner doubled and then Ed Conrey took a chunk out of the Yellow Jackets' lead with a two-run home run to right field.
Georgia Tech responded with two runs in the fifth and held a 6-2 lead in the seventh inning. But once again Conrey brought the Blue Devils back with another two-run homer.
Duke scored a total of five runs in the inning to take a 7-6 lead. Steve Schroeder pitched a scoreless inning and a third to earn the victory, and closer Teddy Sullivan came in and got the final two outs.
Saturday, the Blue Devils demonstrated Friday's win was not a fluke. After giving up a run in the top of the first, Duke scored four runs in the bottom half of the inning. The first run was scored on an error by Georgia Tech leftfielder Jason Basil. Kevin Kelley scored the second run on a bases loaded walk and Vaughn Schill drove in the final two runs of the inning with a single.
Georgia Tech took the lead back with a four-run third, but Duke scored again in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game. The Yellow Jackets scored again in the fifth and held a 6-5 advantage until the eighth inning.
Georgia Tech then exploded for four runs in the eighth, taking a 10-5 lead. The Blue Devils scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Yellow Jackets' lead held up.
Traylor was not disappointed despite the narrow defeat.
"I don't think this is at all disheartening," he said. "Playing a team of their caliber, we had a legitimate chance to win that game. It just got away from us at the end."
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, yesterday's game brought another narrow defeat. Georgia Tech jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after a pair of third inning home runs. Duke scored a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single from Goodner and a bases loaded walk that brought home Kelley.
The score held at 6-2 up until the bottom half of the ninth inning when the Blue Devils made things interesting. Gideon Thompson and Ryan Caradonna both drew walks and Goodner hit a two-out single to load the bases with Conrey, the tying run, at the plate.
Conrey had the count at 1-1 when he foul tipped a pitch off his leg. Traylor and the trainer went out to check on Conrey's condition, and after a five-minute delay, Conrey returned to the plate and struck out to end the game.
Duke returns to action Wednesday for a home game with Davidson and then returns to ACC play with a three-game road series with Clemson over the weekend.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.