Weather Ends Sunday's Baseball Game At 6-6 Tie

Sunday, April 20

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Clemson

Weather Ends Sunday's Baseball Game At 6-6 Tie

4/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Duke and Clemson battled to a 6-6 tie Sunday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field after rain and lightning forced officials to end the game in the top of the 11th inning.

Duke (27-13-1, 6-13-1 ACC) led 6-2 heading into the top of the ninth and came within one out of locking up the win before Ben Paulsen launched a thee-run homer with two outs in the ninth to tie the game at 6-6. Doug Hogan also contributed to the late rally with a two-out RBI single in the same inning.

After a scoreless 10th inning, Clemson (19-20-1, 7-13-1 ACC) jumped ahead in the 11th on a two-run home run by Kyle Parker. The two-run bomb was quickly followed by a bolt of lightning from an impending thunderstorm, causing a minimum delay of 30 minutes. Near the end of the delay, rain and hail set in and rendered the field condition unplayable.

Because the teams could not complete the 11th inning, Parker's home run was negated and the score reverted to the 6-6 final.

The rain washed away terrific pitching performances from Duke pitcher Jonathan Foreman and Clemson starter Ryan Hinson. In his first weekend start of the season, Foreman held the Tigers to one unearned run on five hits through six complete innings, while Hinson took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before Duke overcame a 1-0 deficit on an RBI singles by catcher Matt Williams and outfielder Jeremy Gould. The Blue Devils went on to score two more in the seventh and eighth to take a 6-2 lead before Paulsen knotted the score with two outs in the ninth.

Junior first baseman Nate Freiman picked up his seventh multi-hit game in his last nine starts with a 2-for-5 outing that featured a pair of RBI singles. Williams matched Freiman with a pair of hits, including a double, while also crossing the plate twice. Gould and senior Jonathan Nicolla also contributed RBI, while Nicolla's RBI base knock extended his hitting streak to 11 consecutive games.

Jeff Schaus had a four-hit day for the Tigers that included the rally-starting single in the bottom of the ninth. He scored the first run in the inning on a two-out single from Hogan, who went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs. Third baseman Matt Sanders also drove in two runs in a 2-for-3 performance.

Foreman made quick work of the Tigers in the first inning, using just six pitches to retire the side in order. Unfortunately, Hinson did the same against the Blue Devils in the bottom of the first and retired the side in order as well. He got some help from Mike Freeman at second base when the Tiger sophomore snagged a hard-hit line drive off Williams' bat for the second out before robbing Freiman of a single up the middle with a diving stop behind the bag.

Foreman kept cruising through the second and picked up his first three strikeouts of the game. He got Hogan swinging on an 0-2 breaking ball in the dirt, but the pitch was difficult to handle and skipped past Williams' glove behind the plate to allow Hogan to advance to first. Hogan would then steal second, but got no further as Foreman got the next two batters swinging to end the inning.

Hinson once again matched Foreman's performance by striking out the side in the bottom of the second. All three Blue Devils went down swinging, while Hinson used just 15 pitches in the inning.

Foreman responded by retiring the next two Tigers in the third before Freeman recorded the game's first hit with a ground ball back up the middle. Schaus followed with another single to move Freeman over to third before Foreman sawed off Parker to induce a weak ground ball back to the mound to get out of the jam.

The Blue Devils also put their first runner on base in the third inning when sophomore Ryan McCurdy drew a four-pitch walk with two outs. Hinson kept his composure though, and induced a foulout to end the inning and give him three straight no-hit frames.

Clemson finally disrupted Foreman's rhythm in the fourth, thanks to a leadoff double by Wilson Boyd. The two-bagger eventually led to a run after the Tigers loaded the bases on a Duke fielding error and a walk before Sanders took another walk to turn the wheel to give Clemson a 1-0 lead. Foreman limited any further damage after knocking down a line drive back to the mound and firing to the plate for a force out before fielding another ground ball back at him to end the inning and strand all three runners.

Duke would have no such luck in their next offensive series, however, as Hinson shut down the next three hitters for his fourth three-up, three-down inning of the game. Through four complete innings, he allowed just one Blue Devil to reach base after putting Ryan McCurdy on with a four-pitch walk.

Clemson threatened to add to its 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth after Parker doubled with one out, but Foreman shrugged off the two-bagger and retired the next two hitters to strand the runner on third. Through his first five innings of work, Foreman stranded seven Tigers on base, including three on third base.

Hinson, meanwhile, extended his no-hit bid to the sixth inning after another three-up, three-down inning in the fifth. He used just eight pitches in the inning and had tossed just 61 through his first five frames.

Hinson's potential no-hitter and a chance at a shutout soon came to an end on one swing of the bat when Williams drove in Duke's first run with a two-out single in the bottom of the sixth. The RBI single sparked a two-out rally by the Blue Devils, who squeezed out one more run when Gould came through with a base hit to center field to send in Williams from second base. Freiman also helped in extending the rally with a two-out single through the left side that moved Williams over to second and extended the Duke first baseman's hitting streak to seven games.

The two-run sixth gave Duke a 2-1 lead and came just in time to keep Foreman in line for the win as he handed the ball over to Michael Ness to start the seventh inning. Ness was very effective in his first inning, inducing a pair of ground balls from his first batters before striking out the next two in seven pitches.

Saade opened the bottom half of the seventh inning with a double down the left field line before scoring all the way from second base on a base hit back up the middle by Nicolla. The RBI base knock extended Nicolla's career-best hitting streak to 11 games and came at just the right time as his day ended soon after when Tom Luciano came in to pinch run at first base. Kreick bunted Luciano over to second base where he would score from on the next play when Lemmerman ripped a ground ball to the left side. The ground ball bounced off the heel of shortstop Stan Widmann's glove and skipped into the outfield where it was picked up by Schaus. Luciano had already popped up after sliding into third base and was on the way home when Schaus picked up the ball. With a frozen rope on the way to the plate and Luciano mere steps away from scoring, the Blue Devil freshman dropped down just in time to beat the throw and score for Duke's fourth run of the ballgame.

Duke's two-run inning could not have come at a better time, as Clemson followed with a two-out RBI single in the eighth that cut the score to 4-2. Sanders drove in Hogan for the run after the Tiger catcher opened the inning with the first of two consecutive singles off Ness. Ness rebounded to roll a timely double play ground ball to pick up the first two outs of the inning, though Hogan would advance to third on the play. Ness nearly got out of the inning after jumping ahead 0-2 in the count against Sanders, but the Tiger shortstop battled by fouling off two pitches and watching another ball before slapping the two-out RBI single through the left side to score Hogan.

Following a strikeout from Ness that ended the top of the eighth, the top of the Blue Devil order came up in the bottom half of the inning and strung together three straight hits to score two more runs on the way to a 6-2 lead. Freiman drove in both runs with a base hit back up the middle to follow a leadoff single from Hassan and an ensuing double from Williams that put both runners in scoring position.

Ahead by four runs, Duke needed just three more outs to lock up the win and the three-game series. The Tigers refused to go down though and tied the game with a two-out single and an ensuing two-run home run by Paulsen to knot the score at 6-6. Paulsen's game-tying bomb came on the fist pitch he saw and hit the batter's eye in dead center field.

After Matt Vaughn shut down Duke in the bottom of the ninth, Perry started the 10th inning on the mound for the Blue Devils. He retired three straight to bring the heart of Duke's lineup to the plate in the 10th, but Vaughn shut them in order as well.

Entering the 11th inning with a storm cloud looming, Schaus opened the frame with a single to right field. Parker then came to the plate and mashed the two-run homer into the scoreboard in right field to give Clemson a temporary 8-6 lead. Shortly after, however, lightning flashed and forced both teams back into the dugout. Rain and hail proceeded the lightning and was still coming down when the umpires decided to call the game after nearly an hour and a half delay.

Next up for the Blue Devils is an in-state road trip during the week with a 6 p.m. meeting at UNC Greensboro on Tuesday, April 22 and a 7 p.m. contest at Davidson on Wednesday. Duke will then return home for a three-game set against ACC foe Maryland, beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 25.

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