Despite Duke's 10-4 win over No. 14 Clemson Friday, the Blue Devils missed out on a chance at the 2009 ACC title with an 11-7 loss to No. 9 Virginia Saturday-a loss that might have cost Duke an NCAA tournament bid.
The Blue Devils finished 1-2 in ACC tournament play after going 15-15 in conference during the regular season. But the NCAA selection committee, which announced the field of 64 for the NCAA tournament Monday, did not award Duke a spot in the bracket.
The Blue Devils (36-23) have not made the NCAA tournament since 1961.
"I think our kids are really disappointed," head coach Sean McNally told the (Raleigh) News & Observer after the loss to Virginia. "We had a sense coming out of the ACC Tournament...that we might have a tough time getting in.
"But absolutely, we take a lot of positives from this year, and I do think with time, the guys will appreciate that we've taken a step forward-even if it wasn't as a big a step as we would have liked."
Though Duke left Durham Bulls Athletic Park disappointed Saturday, the Blue Devils were in high spirits Friday after one of their biggest wins of the season.
Starting pitcher Andrew Wolcott gave up a home run early in the game that gave Clemson (40-19) a 1-0 lead, but he shut the Tigers out from that point until the eighth inning.
"He's got great poise," McNally said. "He's unflappable-it usually takes him a little while to set in.... But he's very tough with runners in scoring positions....
"He has been rock solid all year long-he's a cornerstone guy for our season and our program."
Wolcott's run support came almost entirely in a six-run sixth inning that knocked Tigers' starter Chris Dwyer out of the game.
Senior first baseman Nate Freiman led off the inning with a deep home run over the Blue Monster in left field. The home run, the 43rd of his career, set a new school record, and also gave Freiman an ACC-best 20 homers on the year.
After Freiman's leadoff bomb, leftfielder Jeremy Gould bunted for a single. Shortstop Jake Lemmerman drove Gould home with a triple, and Lemmerman scored seconds later on a wild pitch.
Alex Hassan drove in two runs with a single up the middle later in the inning, and what had been a 2-1 game turned into an 8-1 blowout.
"The sixth inning was rough," Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said. "We had the same amount of hits as they did, but they made theirs count."
Making those hits count was exactly what McNally needed from his team to clinch a berth in the NCAA tournament.
"We feel like we're one of the best 64 teams in the country," McNally said following Friday's game. "There's no question about that."
But that sentiment was not reflected by the selection committee Monday, and Duke's defeat against the Cavaliers certainly didn't help its cause.
If Duke had beaten Virginia (43-12-1), it would have advanced to the ACC tournament title game by virtue of a better head-to-head record than the Cavaliers. In the end, Virginia took down Florida State Sunday in the conference championship game.
Duke led Virginia 4-2 in the top of the seventh Saturday night, and to that point had gotten a strong effort on the mound from freshman Eric Pfisterer. Pfisterer allowed two runs and four hits in five innings to keep the Blue Devils in the game.
But a sloppy seventh inning in the field gave the Cavaliers a chance to earn a place in the ACC title game.
After getting the first two hitters out, junior reliever Will Currier walked two straight batters. Then, with a chance to end the inning on a ground ball, Freiman committed an error, keeping the inning alive for Virginia.
One hit batsmen, two doubles, and a triple later, Duke was staring at a five-run deficit. The Blue Devils cut the Virginia lead to three in the bottom of the eighth, but Cavalier closer Kevin Arico shut the door on Duke's ACC title-and NCAA tournament-hopes.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.