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After struggling for decades, Duke is improving under third-year head coach Sean McNally, a former Blue Devils star who holds the school's single-season batting average record (.408).

In pursuit of their second straight winning season, the Devils are 27-13-1 overall and 6-13-1 in the ACC.

Pitcher Christopher Manno has bedeviled opposing batters. The lefty is 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA and struck out 12 batters in Saturday's win over Clemson. Andrew Walcott sports a 2.92 ERA, and Nate Frieman leads the hitters with a .406 average and seven homers.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

It sounds like a belated April Fool's joke, but Clemson -- a traditional baseball power -- suffered an 11-game losing streak this month, longest in school history.

The Tigers are 19-20-1 overall and 7-13-1 in the ACC, and they were trounced 10-1 Saturday by Duke.

Two telling reasons for the decline is the team's earned run average for the season (4.74) and a .200 batting average during the losing streak.

AROUND THE HORN

For area ACC teams, scheduling nonconference games with in-state, Division I opponents is hardly a stress-free diversion.

For example, East Carolina is 10th in the Boyd's World RPI, UNC-Wilmington is No. 27 and Elon No. 39.

"With five games a week and trying to keep kids in class, you try to stay closer to home in scheduling," NCSU coach Elliott Avent said. "Everybody's good. UNC-Wilmington won 21 in a row. ECU is outstanding. UNC-Greensboro, Elon, Appalachian State, everybody is very, very good.

"That keeps your RPI up. Not just by playing ACC games, but the nonconference games against good teams. You never get a breather."

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