Mitchell Stifles Duke Offense In 7-4 Clemson Win

Friday, April 18

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Clemson

Sunday's Baseball Game Against No. 2 Miami Rained Out

Mitchell Stifles Duke Offense In 7-4 Clemson Win

4/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? D.J. Mitchell held Duke to three earned runs over seven full innings to break an 11-game losing streak for Clemson in a 7-4 win over Duke Friday evening at Jack Coombs Field.

Mitchell (4-3) tossed 104 pitches in the outing and scattered eight hits while striking out four and walking none. He exited with a 5-4 lead in the eighth and handed the ball to closer Matt Vaughn, who kept Duke scoreless on three hits in the final two frames to pick up his ninth save of the season.

The Tigers (19-19, 7-12 ACC) received a pair of two-RBI efforts from Kyle Parker and Chris Epps who each turned in a pair of hits as well. Epps also contributed two runs and a stolen base while reaching base in three of his four plate appearances. Clemson also received three-hit days from their leadoff hitter Mike Freeman and two-hitter Jeff Schaus.

Andrew Wolcott (3-3) was the hard-luck loser for Duke after holding the Tigers to three runs over six innings, though just two were earned. The junior right-hander yielded just three runs over six innings, though one was unearned. He scattered seven hits in the game, though three of them came in succession in a two-out rally in the sixth that put Clemson ahead 3-2.

Sophomore Gabriel Saade hammered a two-run homer in the ballgame that erased a 1-0 deficit and put the Blue Devils ahead 2-1. The long ball was the fifth of the season for the Blue Devil second baseman and one of two hits for Saade, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. He now has multiple hits in four of his last five games and is hitting .450 with 10 RBI during that span.

Senior Kyle Kreick picked up three hits in the outing while third baseman Ryan McCurdy also turned in a multi-hit effort with two singles and an RBI sacrifice fly ball in the seventh. Senior designated hitter Jonathan Nicolla also singled to extend his hitting streak to nine straight games.

Wolcott set the tone early by retiring the side in order in the first inning. After third McCurdy made a beautiful diving stop on a groundball to his right side to pick up the first out, Wolcott followed with a called strikeout against Jeff Schaus before making three-hitter Doug Hogan whiff on a 3-2 fastball on the outside corner.

Mitchell followed suit and sat down Duke's first three hitters, despite needing 18 pitches to do so. Junior catcher Matt Williams gave one a ride in the inning, but center fielder Wilson Boyd was able to track down the deep fly on the warning track in straight away center field.

Duke had its first scoring opportunity with a pair on with two outs in the second, but Mitchell buckled down and caught a popup in foul territory to end the threat. Duke left fielder Jeremy Gould opened the frame with a single, and following consecutive outs by the Blue Devils, Kreick kept the rally going with a two-out base knock through the right side. Kreick's base hit moved Gould over to second, but he advanced no further after Mitchell induced an inning-ending foul out off Lemmerman's bat.

The Tigers effectively played small ball and took advantage of a Duke fielding error to turn in their first run of the game on the way to a 1-0 lead. The lone run scored with two outs when Freeman poked a routine ground ball to the right side with Epps on third base. Saade mishandled the ground ball, however, to allow Clemson's freshman outfielder to score after reaching base with a single and stealing second before moving over to third on a groundout from J.D. Burgess.

Clemson threatened to add to their 1-0 lead with two runners on base in the fourth, but Wolcott got out of the jam on his own after serving up a called strikeout to Epps to end the threat. Parker was the first runner to reach after singling to right field and was soon joined on the base paths by Boyd after Duke committed yet another fielding error. Wolcott then forced a flyout to Alex Hassan in center field for the second out, before the situation got more dangerous when both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Williams was able to keep the ball in front of him though, and nearly threw out Parker at third base on the play. He slid under the tag, however, to come within 90 feet of the plate with two outs on the board. Wolcott was unphased though, as the veteran starter jumped ahead 0-2 in the count against Epps before sending him back to the dugout with a 2-2 breaking ball that froze him in the batter's box.

Saade made up for his error in the third with a two-run bomb in the fourth that put the Blue Devils ahead 2-1. The long ball was the fifth of the season for the sophomore second baseman and drove in Nicolla after the senior designated hitter reached on a fielder's choice. Junior first baseman Nate Freiman got the rally started with a leadoff single up the middle, but was forced out at second on Nicolla's ground ball. The Tigers could have ended the inning right then with a double play, but Sanders bobbled the ball just long enough to allow Nicolla to reach first safely with two outs. Saade then came up with two outs and launched the homer, for his team-leading 21st two-out RBI of the season.

Saade did it in the field as well in the fifth after cutting off a ground ball behind the mound and firing to first base on the run to gun down Burgess by less than a step. The Tigers followed with two more back up the middle that Saade could not get to that put runners at first and second with one out. The consecutive singles were quickly negated, however, as McCurdy cleanly fielded a hard-hit ground ball from Hogan and stepped on third to start a 5-3 double play that ended the inning.

The Tigers threatened once more in the fifth and were successful this time this time thanks to a two-out, two-run single from Epps that put Clemson back on top 3-2. The go-ahead single was the third straight two-out hit for Clemson in a rally that started with a base hit up the middle from Boyd. Mark Sanders then came through by legging out a double down the left field line to put he and Boyd in scoring position just before Epps won a 2-2 count with his clutch single.

The two-run sixth inning signaled the end of Wolcott's night as sophomore Michael Ness took over to face the top of Clemson's lineup at the start of the seventh. The Tigers kept swinging though, as Freeman and Schaus knocked Ness' first two pitches for singles before Hogan moved them up a base with a sacrifice bunt. Ness was then forced to intentionally walk cleanup hitter Ben Paulsen to set up the double play, but Parker refused to play along and sent a two-run single through the left side that scored the two leadoff hitters. His base hit left runners on first and second before Ness finally settled down to force a pair of groundouts to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Mitchell had found a groove after giving up Saade's home run and retired six of his next seven through the fifth and sixth. Fatigue began to set in for the sophomore right-hander in the seventh, however, after Mitchell entered the inning with a pitch count of 91. Saade and Kreick took advantage with consecutive hits to lead off the inning, including a double from Kreick that moved both men into scoring position. Hogan then allowed Saade to score after letting Mitchell's offering to Jake Lemmerman slipped behind him for a passed ball that also sent Kreick to third. Following a visit to the mound, Mitchell regained his form and struck out Lemmerman, but allowed McCurdy to send a fly ball to right-center field in the next at bat. Epps robbed McCurdy of a hit with a diving catch on the play, but still allowed Kreick to score from third to put Duke within one run at 5-4.

Clemson's one-run advantage was soon expanded though after a two-run eighth that ran the Tiger lead to 7-4. Freeman opened the scoring drive with an RBI single that scored Epps from second base after the right fielder reached base for the third time in the game when he was hit by a pitch. Following Freeman's third straight single, Schaus followed suit with his third consecutive base hit as well. Schaus' drive moved Freeman to third and prompted Duke to bring in senior reliever Ryan Perry to escape the first-and-third jam. The Tigers attempted to squeeze in Freeman with a bunt in what would have been their fourth sacrifice of the game, but came away with a hit after Hogan evaded Freiman's tag and legged out the bunt for a single. With runners on first and second after the bunt single, Perry limited any further damage by striking out Paulsen and forcing Parker to pop up to shortstop.

Following seven strong innings from Mitchell, Clemson went to the bullpen and called on Vaughn to close out the final two innings. The sophomore right-hander opened the frame by giving up a leadoff single to Williams, but quickly erased the base hit by forcing Freiman to hit into a double play before ending the inning with a strikeout.

Meanwhile, Perry kept Duke in the game with a scoreless ninth that featured consecutive punchouts to end the inning. Perry finished his night with three strikeouts to give him 21 in 21.2 innings this season. He dropped his ERA to 4.22 with the performance and is now holding the opposition to a .225 average.

Trailing 7-4, the Blue Devils refused to go quietly and managed to bring the tying run to the plate after putting a pair on base with singles from Nicolla and Kreick. Nicolla's base knock was a hit through the left side and came just in the knick of time to save his nine-game hitting streak. Saade then came up and ripped a hard-hit line drive to left-center field, but Schaus was quick enough to cut it off for the first out of the inning. The play did little to kill Duke's momentum though, as Kreick then came through with another base knock through the left side. He swapped spots on first base with pinch runner John Bunder, who joined his classmate Tom Luciano on the base paths after the freshman came in to run for Nicolla. With two of Duke's fastest players on base and one out on the board, Lemmerman had a chance to cut into the 7-4 deficit. Vaughn buckled down, however, and showed the same form that earned him eight saves to this point in the season in forcing Lemmerman to foul out to the catcher after running a fastball inside to the freshman shortstop. The Blue Devils then sent pinch hitter Tim Sherlock to the plate in their final effort, but Vaughn sent him back to the dugout after painting a fastball on the outside corner on a 3-2 count for the final strikeout.\

Duke will have the opportunity to avenge the loss on Saturday at 2 p.m. Sophomore left-hander Christopher Manno (3-0, 3.41 ERA) will make his first career weekend start for the Blue Devils, while Clemson will counter with redshirt-freshman Graham Stoneburner (4-1, 3.06 ERA).

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