04/13/2008 - Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Matt Payne and Ryan Pond drove in four runs apiece to lead N.C. State to a series-clinching 12-7 win over Duke Sunday afternoon at Doak Field to take the three-game set two games to one.

Payne finished 4-for-5 with a pair of runs while Pond turned in a 3-for-5 outing that included his third homer of the season along with three runs. Leadoff man Dallas Poulk also went 2-for-4 with a home run,  two runs and two RBI as the top three N.C. State hitters combined to go 9-for-14 with 10 RBI, two long balls and seven runs.

A six-run second inning by the Wolfpack (23-11, 10-7 ACC) was Duke’s downfall, though the Blue Devils (23-12, 5-12 ACC) fought to overcome an early seven-run deficit to come within three runs in the fifth inning. N.C. State reliever Joey Cutler (4-0) was too much for the Blue Devils, however, as he took over in the fifth to kill a bases-loaded rally on the way to his fourth win of the season. Cutler held Duke to one hit and a walk over 2.2 innings before Jimmy Gillheeney took over with a scoreless eighth and ninth to close out the win.

The Blue Devils hammered Wolfpack starter Eryk McConnell for seven runs on 11 hits through 4.1 innings, thanks to multi-hit outings from Jeremy Gould (3-for-5), Gabriel Saade (2-for-4), Jake Lemmerman (2-for-5) and Nate Freiman (2-for-5). Both Saade and Lemmerman drove in a pair of runs while all but one Blue Devil starter collected at least one hit. Gould and designated hitter Jonathan Nicolla each scored twice, while Matt Williams reached base three times with a pair of walks and an RBI single.

Right fielder Tom Luciano also came off the bench to pick up his first career extra base after launching a double down the right field line in his first at bat of the day. He eventually scored from second for his third run of the season.

N.C. State knocked out Blue Devil starter Grant Monroe (4-3) in the second inning after the freshman right-hander loaded the bases and walked in a run. In his shortest outing of the year, Monroe allowed seven earned runs in one-plus innings of work while giving up four hits and three walks. Duke followed with five more pitchers, with Alex Hassan having the best outing of the group after retiring six straight in the seventh and eighth innings. Along with classmate Jonathan Foreman, the sophomore duo held N.C. State hitless over their final three frames. The six pitchers used by Duke were the most in a single game this season, topping the previous season-high of four.

The Wolfpack picked up where they left off Saturday night by mashing a pair of home runs in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. The first shot came off Poulk’s bat and was aided in leaving the park by a strong wind blowing straight out to left field. Following an ensuing base hit from Pond, N.C. State’s next bomb came from Payne and banged off the scoreboard in left-center field for a two-run shot. Monroe rebounded nicely from the early outburst, however, and retired the next three in order, including a called strikeout against Pat Ferguson.

Duke responded with two runs in the top of the second and had another called back after Lemmerman was hit by a batted ball on the way to second base. Lemmerman was hit by the potential game-tying single from Michael Ghizzoni on a one-out hit-and-run, resulting in a dead ball that forced Saade to retrace his steps back to third base. The play killed the momentum built up by a bases-loaded RBI single from McCurdy and an RBI fielder’s choice ground ball from Lemmerman.

N.C. State followed suit by loading the bases on a leadoff triple from Nick Stanley and three straight walks to open what later became a six-run second inning. Poulk sent in the first run after drawing the bases-loaded walk, prompting Duke to bring in junior Kyle Butler to inherit the bases-loaded, no-out situation. Butler had better luck finding the strike zone, but not in ending the rally as Pond cleared the bases with a three-run triple to the right-center field gap. Pond too was also sent across the plate on the next at bat when Payne ripped an RBI single up the middle. Butler then managed to strike out cleanup hitter Jeremy Synan for the first out, but followed by surrendering a double to Marcus Jones and a sacrifice fly to Ferguson for the sixth run of the inning. He eventually stopped the bleeding after dishing out a called strikeout to Stanley in his second at bat of the inning.

Though trailing 9-2, the Blue Devils did anything but lay down. They loaded the bases with two outs in the third, beginning with a single up the middle from Lemmerman and a two-strike double down to the left field corner from Gould. Nicolla then joined his teammates on the base paths after drawing a full count walk before Saade came through with a clutch two-RBI single to the right-center field gap after falling behind 1-2 in the count. Saade was thrown out on the way to second, however, as Jones and shortstop Tommy Foschi teamed up for the relay to stop the sophomore second baseman from stretching his base knock into a double.

Freshman John Bunder took the mound in the bottom of the third and had the most effective inning for Duke to that point in the game, but could not cool down the Wolfpack bats as N.C. State put up another run thanks to a two-out RBI single from Payne. Payne’s RBI base hit drove in Foschi from second base after the Wolfpack shortstop walked to open the inning before advancing to second on a base hit from Poulk. Bunder nearly got out of the jam after striking out Pond for the second out, but could not retire Payne who singled up the middle for his third hit in as many at bats.

Duke was not shaken though, as the Blue Devils put together another two-out rally in the fourth on the way to a pair of runs that cut the deficit to 10-6. The Blue Devils pounded four hits in the inning, including a pair of consecutive RBI singles from Williams and Freiman that came with two outs on the board. Williams’ base knock drove in Luciano, who came off the bench in the previous half inning and roped a double down the right field line in his first at bat. Luciano was immediately joined on the base paths by Hassan, who was robbed of a single up the middle when McConnell snagged his hard-hit grounder on the mound. To the surprise of Lemmerman, who was on third after singling and advancing on Luciano’s double, McConnell came up with the ball and fired to his third baseman to eliminate what should have been Duke’s first run of the inning. McConnell’s play gave N.C. State its second out, but left Hassan and Luciano on first and second to set the table for Williams and Freiman’s run-scoring singles.

Bunder caught hold of his team’s momentum and had a much better outing in the fourth, retiring three of four hitters in just 12 pitches. He received some defensive help from third baseman Ryan McCurdy, who made a leaping grab on a high-hopper sent to third base by Foschi before firing across the infield for the final out of the inning.  

Meanwhile, Duke continued to cut into the lead with another run in the top of the fifth that trimmed the deficit to 10-7. McConnell gave the Blue Devils a pair of base runners to start the rally after plunking Nicolla and McCurdy with his first pitches to each batter. With Nicolla on second, Lemmerman fought from behind 0-2 in the count to slap an RBI single down the right field line for his second hit of the ballgame. That prompted N.C. State to bring in Cutler, who inherited runners on first and second with one out. Despite walking Hassan to load the bases, Cutler did his job and stranded all three base runners after getting the final two outs to preserve the three-run lead.

With a comeback well within Duke’s reach heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Blue Devils sent out their top reliever Michael Ness for the second time in the series. Unlike his three shutout inning performance in game one, however, the sophomore right-hander struggled with his control and let a pair of runs score on an RBI single by Pond and a bases-loaded walk to Jones that ran the score to 12-7.

Following the two-run fifth, sophomore Jonathan Foreman took over pitching duties for the Blue Devils in his first relief appearance since Feb. 24. He walked his first batter but retired the next three on just seven pitches to take the game into the seventh inning.

The Blue Devils changed pitchers yet again in the bottom half of the seventh, sending Hassan to the mound from center field. He retired the side in order and did what no other Blue Devil could do over the previous six innings by getting Payne to fly out to end a streak of four straight hits for the Wolfpack right fielder.

Hassan stayed on in the eighth to complete a streak of six straight batters retired, including his second strikeout of the game. Over his last four appearances, Hassan has allowed just one hit while striking out five over a span of four innings. His ERA dropped to 0.69 with the performance.

Down to their final three outs, Saade opened the ninth with a single for the Blue Devils, but got no further as Gillheeney retired the next three to end the game.  

The Blue Devils will open a six-game week this Tuesday, April 15, with a pair of seven-inning affairs against N.C. Central at Jack Coombs Field beginning at 5 p.m. Duke will then head to Buies Creek, N.C., to take on Campbell at 7 p.m. on Wednesday before continuing ACC play with a three-game home series against No. 27 Clemson.

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