After a week in which ice and rain forced Duke to cancel or postpone four straight games, the skies cleared Sunday, allowing the Blue Devils to take the field for the first time in eight days. The baseball gods, however, were not so generous.
Following a thrilling, 8-7 come-from-behind victory over Radford in the first game at historic Jack Coombs Field, Duke squandered countless chances to pull out the nightcap, allowing the Highlanders to steal a 4-3 victory and a split in the doubleheader.
Though both nailbiters came down to the final strike, the Blue Devils (4-4) were left frustrated with their inability to sweep a Radford team that went only 18-33 last season and plays in the mediocre Big South conference.
"That's a team we should have beaten twice," senior rightfielder Brian Patrick said. "It's disappointing."
Duke's attempt at a second consecutive comeback was thwarted when pinch-hitter Bryan Smith struck out with the tying run only 90 feet away at third base, ending the ninth-inning rally and the ballgame. The conclusion was fitting for a game in which the Blue Devils left twelve men on base and repeatedly stranded runners in scoring position, including two innings in which the team left the bases loaded.
"Sometimes you get clutch hits, and sometimes you don't," head coach Bill Hillier said. "It didn't happen for us in the second game today."
Despite all its miscues, Duke was almost able to escape with a win. Down 4-2 in the ninth, freshman Adam Murray led off with a walk, and advanced to third on a hard single to center by Patrick. After Adam Loftin advanced Patrick to second with a sacrifice bunt, senior Troy Caradonna grounded out to shortstop, plating Murray and putting Patrick at third with two outs and Bryan Smith coming to bat in a one run game.
In a game the Blue Devils never led, Radford jumped out to a quick lead against Duke starter Kevin Thompson (0-3). Leftfielder Nat Hodges opened the game with a long double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by first baseman Kellen Wohlford.
Duke tied the game in the third without a single, solid hit. After two weak singles and a walk loaded the bases with only one out, Murray-Duke's top hitter in its first eight games-brought in a run with a perfectly placed bunt single. The rally died, however, when No. 3 and 4 hitters Patrick and Tim Layen popped out and struck out, respectively, to strand three men on base.
The Blue Devils continually failed to capitalize on such opportunities. In the fifth, Michael Golom led off with a stand-up double, but the Blue Devils were unable to even advance him to third base. One inning later, Golom struck out to leave the bases loaded. In the seventh, Patrick finally brought in Duke's second run with an RBI single, but he was eventually left stranded at third. Drew Jerdan's leadoff double, followed by an infield single and a sacrifice bunt, gave Duke men on second and third with one out in the eighth, but yet again, the rally fizzled.
Meanwhile, Radford proved to be opportunistic. After a one out double by Wohlford in the fourth, David Landman roped a liner into right-center for an RBI single. The Highlanders upped their lead to 3-1 in the seventh when Steve Mignogna's liner to center dropped under the outstretched glove of centerfielder Senterrio Landrum, making a leadoff walk come back to haunt the Blue Devils as Matt Mantione came in to score. After Duke cut the lead to one, Radford added an insurance run in the eighth on a Wohlford RBI single, forcing Duke to try to pull off another late-inning comeback.
In Sunday's first game, Patrick went 3-for-5 with five runs batted in, two of which came on Duke's first home run this season, to pace the Blue Devil offense. After Duke established a 6-4 lead behind Patrick's fireworks, Radford scored three runs to go on top in the eighth inning. The Blue Devils, however, answered right back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, as Golom and Landrum came around to score on a Murray single. Zach Schreiber shut down the Highlanders in the ninth, earning Blake Walker (2-0) and Duke a comeback victory.
Nonetheless, the loss in the nightcap left Hillier far from pleased with his team. "You're going to get embarrassed in the ACC if you play like that," the coach said. "We just need to regroup and quit making so many little mistakes and we're going to beat a lot of [teams]."
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