A season that began in frustration ended in frustration.
Senior right-hander Stephen Cowie struck out 11 and gave up just three earned runs in his final collegiate game, but it wasn't enough to stave off elimination as Maryland southpaw Tom Curtiss matched Cowie pitch for pitch and lifted the eighth-seeded Terps (22-31) to a 4-3 victory in the ACC Tournament play-in game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park Tuesday night.
It was the second time this decade Duke (24-30) exited in the tournaments 8 vs. 9 game.
"What happened tonight was a great game," coach Steve Traylor said. "We just didn't have enough firepower. [Curtiss] was fantastic, and we countered him with one of the best pitchers in college baseball, but we didn't get the hits when we needed. We had our chances, we just didn't get the hits."
The loss brought to an end an injury-plagued and problem-filled season that saw the Blue Devils lose five players, including 1998 Freshman All-Americans J.D. Alleva and Brent Reid, for nearly all the season.
"The first thing I want to say is thank you to my team," Traylor said of his club, which finished the season with just 18 players on its roster. "After all this team has been through this year, I'm proud of them for persevering and making it a season, and tonight doesn't diminish that a bit."
Duke opened the scoring in the first inning, posting a run in each of the first two innings as Curtiss walked the first two batters he faced in the opening frame and gave up a leadoff double to Ryan Carradona to start the second.
But it was all the scoring the Blue Devils would manage.
Making his first ever tournament start, Curtiss took the game over, striking out 11batters and allowing no runners past second base in the final seven innings.
"He had his best stuff tonight, no doubt about it," Maryland coach Tom Bradley said. "That's the kind of pitching he did to beat North Carolina. His fastball and breaking ball were both on."
Then the Maryland offense finished the job.
Terp rightfielder Matt Swope broke up Cowie's no-hit bid in the fourth inning, singling up the middle and keying a three-run rally. Two singles, a pair of walks and a sacrifice fly later Maryland plated the game-winning run.
"At the beginning of games, hitters aren't used to the pitcher, so they're trying to get the patterns down and [in the fourth] they did that," Cowie said. "They were able to lay off of a lot of pitches, and I wasn't starting with strikes, so I was working out of a hole. You walk a couple, some hits fall in and you pay for it."
The Blue Devils best chance to rally came in the seventh inning.
Already above the 100-pitch mark, Curtiss gave up a leadoff single to Dave Mason. Two batters later junior Ed Conrey walked, putting runners on first and second with one out.
Wes Goodner then took Curtiss to a full count before Curtiss regained his poise and struck out the Blue Devil centerfielder on a hard slider out of the strike zone. The Terrapin lefty then struck out freshman Kevin Kelly to end the inning.
"That was the pivotal point of the game," Curtiss said. "The count was full and the crowd was making a lot of noise and I got him to chase a pitch a little bit, struck him out."
Maryland added an insurance run in the eighth when catcher interference was called and Craig Munroe was awarded first base on a ground ball that would have resulted in the final out of the inning.
Craig Easter then drove in the games' final run.
But for Traylor and the Blue Devils, a game of disappointment was a symbol of determination.
In a season where every turn seemed to be the wrong one, he credited his club with never trying to find the way out.
"We made this a season, despite the injuries and everything," Traylor said, "and that's what is foremost in my mind, we didn't give up."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.