03/16/2008 - Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Freshman Grant Monroe held No. 16 Virginia to one run over seven innings, while Alex Hassan picked up a two-inning save to lead Duke to a 4-1 win over the Cavaliers Sunday afternoon. With the game three victory, Duke clinches the series 2-1 after taking game one 9-8 on Friday.

Virginia (14-4, 2-4 ACC) entered the game averaging nine runs and 12 hits per game, but Monroe (3-1) held the Cavaliers to just one run on five hits and a walk to pick up his third win of the season. After giving up his only run in the second inning, the freshman right-hander went on to retire 15 of his next 18 batters faced, including six straight in the third and fourth innings. He finished with three strikeouts over a career-long seven innings of work.

Meanwhile, Hassan went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and a pair of runs from the leadoff spot for Duke (16-3, 3-3 ACC) before picking up his second save of the series on the mound. The two-way sophomore batted .500 (6-for-12) over the series with four runs and a .538 on base percentage from the leadoff spot. He also contributed three innings of relief to pick up his team-leading third and fourth saves of the season.

Sophomore outfielder Jeremy Gould matched Hassan with three hits in game three, while also driving in a run and scoring once. Senior designated hitter Jonathan Nicolla added a clutch two-out RBI double in the first inning, while Kyle Kreick also drove in a run.

Junior catcher Matt Williams gunned down his third runner of the series after catching Virginia first baseman Jeremy Farrell trying to steal second. The Northville, Mich., native has now thrown out six runners in the last six games, bringing his season total to seven.

Jarrett Parker had Virginia’s lone RBI after launching a two-out double in the top of the second to send in shortstop Phil Gosselin. All three of Duke’s runs came off of starter Andrew Carraway (2-2), who took the loss after giving up six hits while striking out four through 5.1 innings.

The Blue Devils put together their three-run first inning on an RBI single from Gould and a two-out RBI double from Nicolla. The first three hitters reached base and scored in the inning after Hassan opened the frame with a single to right field before catcher Matt Williams was hit with a pitch and Gould drove in the first run with his RBI single. Gould’s base knock sent in Hassan from second base and moved Williams to third, setting up a first-and-third situation with no outs on the board. Gould then stole second and drew a throw from Virginia catcher Franco Valdes, who bounced the ball several feet in front of second base before it skipped into the outfield. The off-target throw allowed Williams to score and Gould to advance to third. After Carraway retired the next two batters in order, the Blue Devils squeezed out one last run in the inning thanks to an RBI double down the right field line by Nicolla.

Virginia answered with a run in the second after Parker doubled with two outs to send in Gosselin from second base. Packer’s two-base knock was the only hit of the inning, as Gosselin reached with a walk to open the frame.

Parker’s two-bagger would be the last hit for either team for the next two and a half innings, as both Monroe and Carraway each retired six straight until the fifth inning. Virginia center fielder Patrick Wingfield broke the hitless streak in the top of the fifth with a leadoff single.

In turn, the Blue Devils ended Carraway’s hitless streak with a pair of consecutive singles from freshman Ben Condon and Hassan in the bottom half of the fifth. The rally was quickly put to rest, however, after Carraway induced a double-play ground ball to his shortstop to end the inning.

First baseman Jeremy Farrell managed a two-out single off of Monroe in the sixth, but was thrown out on the base paths by Williams while trying to steal second. Williams has now caught six runners stealing in the last six games, including three in the Virginia series.

The Cavaliers changed pitchers in the bottom of the sixth, sending Matt Packer to the mound to get out of a one-out situation with a runner on first. The sophomore southpaw effectively neutralized the situation by retiring two straight, even after allowing Gould to reach second with a stolen base.

Hassan moved from center field to the mound at the start of the eighth and retired three of four hitters to hold the 3-1 Blue Devil lead intact heading into the bottom of the eighth. He immediately followed by helping himself out at the plate after leading off the bottom half of the inning with a double and scoring from third on a base hit from Kreick. The two-bagger was the eighth of the season for Hassan, which puts him atop the team leaderboard alongside Kreick.

After putting Duke ahead 4-1, Hassan toed the rubber in the ninth and retired three straight to lock up the series. With the outing, Hassan lowered his ERA to 1.12 on the season while dropping his batting average against to .154, the second-lowest mark on the team. 

The Blue Devils will end their 21-game homestand this week after a pair of non-conference meetings with Hartford at Jack Coombs Field. The teams will open the two-game series on Tuesday, March 18 at 3 p.m. before wrapping it up on Wednesday at the same time. Duke will then make its first road trip of the season to Atlanta, Ga., where they will face ACC foe Georgia Tech in a three-game series.

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