The baseball team (19-22, 1-11 in the ACC) had a chance to defeat the top-ranked Clemson Tigers (34-5, 10-2) in each of its three matchups, but eventually faltered in all of the games. The Blue Devils lost 5-3 Friday, 4-1 Saturday and 2-1 Sunday.
"We're down right now," senior shortstop Kevin Kelly said. "We know we could have beaten the No. 1 team in the country three straight games."
The one-run loss Sunday was especially heart-breaking for the Blue Devils.
The game began well for Duke, as the Tigers were shutout for the first five innings.
Duke had its most productive offensive inning in the fourth after pitcher Tim Layden led off with a warning track double. Layden then advanced to third after Troy Caradonna grounded out. Duke's sole run of the game was recorded after Clemson catcher Collin Mahoney's error allowed Layden to cross home plate and give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.
The success of this inning was negated by the turbulence Duke encountered in the sixth.
The first three batters for Clemson, Kyle Frank, Khalil Greene and Jeff Baker, knocked in singles to load the bases against Layden.
Michael Johnson followed them with a single of his own, bringing home Frank. Clemson's Jeff Hourigan then grounded into a double play, but this still allowed Greene to score, giving Clemson a 2-1 lead.
Layden finally got out of his mess when David Slevin grounded out to end the inning.
"I was just trying to get out of there with minimal damage," Layden said. "I tried to get a double play ball, which I did. I was just trying to give good pitches."
Duke followed Clemson with a productive sixth inning of its own.
Drew Jerdan led off with a base hit, and Layden followed him with a walk. After a wild pitch, the two runners advanced. Bryan Smith was then walked, leaving the bases loaded with no outs.
Hope was lost for Duke when Caradonna struck out and Grant Stanley grounded into a double play.
"That was big," Duke coach Bill Hillier said. "You've got to say that [the sixth inning] was the difference."
The game ended with a pop-up from Larry Broadway in the ninth, stranding two runners.
"We left too many people on base all weekend," Hillier said.
The game Friday also included many lead changes.
After Clemson took Duke's 2-1 lead away in the fifth inning by scoring two runs, the Blue Devils tied the Tigers in the bottom of the sixth when Smith brought home Broadway on a sacrifice fly.
The Tigers reclaimed the lead with a run in the seventh inning. Frank hit a one-out double to left field and scored on a single by Jeff Baker.
Clemson concluded the game's scoring when Hourigan led off the eighth inning with a single and scored on a single by Roberto Valiente, giving the Tigers a 5-3 victory.
In Saturday's game, Duke pitcher Jeff Alleva pitched around trouble in the first two innings by stranding five runners.
His luck ran out in the fifth when Baker hit a two-out, two-run homer.
Duke recorded its sole run when Caradonna grounded into an error, which brought Smith home in the sixth inning.
Clemson then took a 4-1 lead on its second two-out, two-run homer of the game. Hourigan sent a 2-2 pitch by Zach Schreiber over the left-field wall.
"We can go back and over-analyze specific pitches," Hillier said. "But sometimes you throw pitches and they hit home runs. I tell my pitchers, OIf you're not giving up home runs, you're not pitching against good teams'."
Although pleased with his team's effort, Hillier is anything but satisfied.
"I'm not into moral victories," he said. "I told them I'm upset. It's a little disappointing to be where we are in the conference playing like this. We're not going to sit back and make excuses and whine about it. We're going to come back and play hard against East Carolina on Tuesday."
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