RALEIGH, N.C. – Freshman lefty Carlos Rodon threw his second career complete game and improved to 8-0 on the season after leading No. 19 N.C. State to an 8-3 win over Duke on Saturday night at Doak Field.
Rodon matched his career high with 12 strikeouts but gave up a season-high three earned runs despite holding the Blue Devils to just five hits.
Wolfpack shortstop Chris Diaz went 5-for-5 with two doubles to lead State at the plate.
N.C. State (29-12, 15-8 ACC) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first, scoring on an RBI-single by catcher Danny Canela and on a sacrifice fly from first baseman Andrew Ciencin.
Left fielder Tarran Senay hit a solo home run to right in the second inning to push the Wolfpack lead to 3-0.
Senay added an RBI-double to right center in the fourth, extending the State lead to 4-0.
Third baseman Trea Turner homered on the first pitch of the fifth to put the Wolfpack ahead 5-0. State would later have runners at first and third with only one out but Duke reliever Sarkis Ohanian got Ciencin to ground out into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Duke left fielder Andrew Istler drew a leadoff walk to start the top of the sixth. Two batters later, first baseman Mike Rosenfeld sent an RBI-triple past a diving Ryan Mathews in right to drive in Duke’s first run of the game. Third baseman Jordan Betts then blasted a 1-1 offering from Rodon to deep left center for a two-run jack, making it a 5-3 ballgame. It was the third home run of the season for Betts and the fourth of his career.
The Wolfpack got three straight one-out doubles from Canela, Mathews and Ciencin and an RBI-single from center fielder Jake Fincher in the seventh to take an 8-3 lead.
Betts’ two-run homer led Duke offensively on the night. Istler finished 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run, Rosenfeld had an RBI-triple and a run and center fielder Will Piwnica-Worms added a hit for Duke (16-28, 7-16 ACC).
Freshman starter Trent Swart (3-7) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings of work. Freshman Nick Piscotty had a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless eighth for the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils and Wolfpack will wrap up their series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
-d-u-k-e-
