Down 7-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning of the final game in a series where little had gone right for the unranked Blue Devils (13-22, 0-11 ACC), about the only suspense left for Duke fans was whether or not the then-hitless senior Brian Patrick would extend his hitting streak to twelve games.
He did so in dramatic fashion, pegging the scoreboard for a two-run homerun, but little else went the Blue Devils' way this weekend. The fifth-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (28-6, 8-1 ACC) won all three contests at Jack Combs Field, beating Duke 9-1 and 11-1 Saturday, and 13-6 Sunday.
Afterwards, Duke reflected on the toughness of the opponent that it faced, in a season in which Duke has had to reflect a great deal about the many top-tier baseball teams that have defeated them in conference play.
"They're as good as advertised," Patrick said. "[Being fifth in the nation] is a legitimate ranking."
The Blue Devils struggled all weekend against Tech's pesky pitching, scoring only four runs before the last inning of the third and final game.
In that frame, facing closer Jeff Watcko, sophomore Adam Loftin and freshman Brian Hernandez had back-to-back singles, before Michael Golom unflinchingly took a fastball to the jersey to load the bases.
Freshman Javier Socorro then hit a two-run single, and freshman Adam Murray walked to load up the bases again. Patrick then knocked in two more with a single to right-center field, but Duke's run was over after a John Berger fly-out, and so was its weekend.
Patrick seemed to take little solace in the late rally.
"I'm glad that our offense showed some signs of life at the end," said Patrick. "But I don't really believe in moral victories."
While he might not have celebrated it, Patrick extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games.
At the end of last year, Patrick had a ten-game streak as the the season came to a conclusion; Patrick also got in the hitting column in the first game of this season, so his previous high was either 10 or 11 games, depending on how you look at it.
"He's hot right now," Hillier said. "He's hitting it hard. Even his outs are hard."
Also impressive was the offensive output of Socorro, who tallied six hits and two runs batted in in 13 at-bats.
"Javy's finally starting to hit the ball," Hillier said. "He had a very good weekend, he's seeing the ball better and gaining some confidence. Hopefully this will help him the rest of the season."
Duke's only other runs in the third game came off Patrick's sixth-inning home run. Duke had scored one run in the ninth inning of the first game as Berger singled in sophomore Grant Stanley. A few hours later in the second game, Patrick hit a two-out double, to be knocked in after a single by senior Troy Caradonna.
Tech, meanwhile, displayed its full offensive repertoire as it scored 33 runs and batted .401 for the series. Junior Matt Murton hit his 10th and 11th home runs of the season Saturday.
Sophomore Eric Patterson pulled an old-school trick out of his sleeve, flawlessly executing a push bunt between the pitcher and an out-of-position second baseman for an infield single in the sixth inning of the third game.
However, Hillier wondered when his pitching might return to its former state.
"We took one of the top guys in the country and gave him a run for it," he said, referring to Watchko. "We're just not pitching well right now. Pitching sets the tempo, pitching can win you games."
Duke looks forward to playing Davidson (13-18) Wednesday, in Davidson.
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