Manno Goes Eight Strong Innings To Lead Duke To 10-2 Win Over Terps

Saturday, April 26

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Maryland

Manno Goes Eight Strong Innings To Lead Duke To 10-2 Win Over Terps

4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Christopher Manno held Maryland to two runs over a career-high eight innings to lead Duke to a 10-2 win Saturday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field. The win was number 30 on the season for the Blue Devils, who reached the mark for the first time since 1998.

Manno (5-0) struck out seven and walked none while scattering six hits on the way to his second straight ACC victory. The sophomore southpaw faced no more than four batters in each inning and allowed just three base runners to advance past second base. He fired 107 pitches on the day, including 74 strikes, and lowered his ERA to 2.78 with the performance.

Duke (30-14-1, 7-14-1 ACC) provided plenty of support for their Saturday starter and hammered a season-high three home runs in the win with Nate Freiman, Jonathan Nicolla and Tom Luciano all going deep. Freiman's long ball made him just the 13th player in school history to reach the 20-home run plateau and the first since J.D. Alleva topped the mark in 2001.

Nicolla's homer, meanwhile, extended his ACC-leading leading hit streak to 15 games. Luciano's deep fly was the first of his career and one of two hits for the freshman right fielder, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI, two runs scored and his third stolen base of the year.

Duke Leadoff man Alex Hassan and catcher Matt Williams each went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and a double, while Williams also added a double RBI and extended his career-long hitting streak to 14 games. Hassan also reached base in four of his six plate appearances after drawing a pair of walks.

Maryland (26-20, 8-15 ACC) struggled to recover from spotty control on the part of its pitching staff, as the Terrapins walked seven batters and hit four. All seven of the walks came in the first three innings when Duke scored four runs to take the lead for the remainder of the game. Starter Brett Tidball (2-1) took the loss after giving up four earned runs on two hits over one complete inning. He was taken out in the second frame after issuing his fourth walk of the game and relieved by Mike Sufczynski, who also had control issues but held Duke scoreless over the next three innings. Maryland went on to use three more pitchers who combined to allow six earned runs and seven hits over the final four innings.

Designated hitter Jensen Pupa accounted for Maryland's only two RBI with a run-scoring groundout in the first and a solo home run in the fourth. He was one of two Terrapins with multiple hits on the day, joining first baseman Will Greenberg who also went 2-for-4. Manno was able to hold leadoff batter Steve Braun to one hit and a run on the day after the Maryland second baseman went 4-for-6 with three RBI in the series opener on Friday. Manno also held cleanup hitter Mike Murphy in check with an 0-for-4 performance after the Maryland slugger hammered two home runs in Friday's contest.

Braun won the first battle between he and Manno and led off the game with a double down the right field line. Manno kept his composure, however, and retired the next three hitters, but was forced to concede the run on a swinging bunt from Pupa for the second out of the game. After the run, Manno picked up his 60th strikeout of the season after fanning Murphy with a 2-2 fastball up in his eyes.

Maryland's lead did not last long though, as Freiman quickly erased the 1-0 deficit with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first. The long ball came on a 3-1 count and easily cleared the left field fence immediately after Tidball walked the first two batters to start the game. Tidball was able to get two quick outs after Freiman's home run, but continued to struggle with his command and hit Nicolla before awarding Blue Devil third baseman Ryan McCurdy a free pass to first with a full count walk. With Nicolla in scoring position, Duke shortstop Jake Lemmerman ripped a base hit up the middle, but Maryland center fielder Nick Jowers was able to kept the run from scoring after firing a perfectly-placed throw to third to gun down McCurdy just before Nicolla was able to cross the plate.

Despite the inning-ending play from Jowers, the momentum stayed in Duke's favor. The Blue Devils scored one more run in their next offensive series, beginning with an RBI single from Williams that easily sent in Luciano from third base. Left fielder Dan Benick kept the Blue Devils from blowing the game open, however, after robbing Duke cleanup hitter Jeremy Gould of a three-run homer with an outstanding leaping grab at the wall to bring back the deep fly from behind the fence. While impressive, Benick's catch did little to erase the run that Duke had already scored in the inning which began with a leadoff walk by Luciano. After opening the frame with his fifth walk of the season, the freshman outfielder easily stole second base on the next pitch to put himself in scoring position. After a groundout from Hassan moved him over to third, Williams came to the plate and stayed back on a 1-0 breaking ball before sending it the other way for his RBI single.

Meanwhile, Manno had faced just one over the minimum in his first three innings of work, thanks in part to a double play turned by McCurdy, Saade and Freiman in the second inning. Manno was able to keep up his ACC-leading strikeout pace in his first few innings after picking up three more punchouts, including two straight to end the third.

After Maryland managed just one more base hit after Braun's leadoff double in the first, Pupa finally got ahold of one for the Terps in the top of the fourth and sent it out of the park for a solo shot that cut the deficit to 4-2. Manno kept on rolling though, and retired the next two in order on a weak popup and his fifth strikeout of the game.

Duke had a chance to take back the run after putting a runner on third with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but came away empty-handed after Sufczynski buckled down and forced consecutive flyouts to end the inning. McCurdy's shot had a good chance of driving in the run, but was cut off in the left-center gap by Dan Benick to negate the potential RBI extra-base hit.

Following Pupa's home run in the fourth, Manno retired six of the next seven batters and picked up two more strikeouts during that span. He needed just five pitches to sit down top of Maryland's order in the sixth, forcing Braun and Benick to foul out on consecutive pitches before striking out Pupa on three straight pitches to end the inning.

After stranding seven runners over the previous three innings, the Blue Devils were finally able to add to their 4-2 lead when Nicolla launched a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth inning. The long ball came on an 0-1 count, was the third of the season for the senior designated hitter and extended his ACC-leading hitting streak to 15 games.

Manno continued to deal through the seventh and sat down three of the next four for his third straight scoreless inning. He did an excellent job limiting his pitch count during the outing and had yet to reach the 100-pitch mark heading into the eighth. He encountered his first pressure situation since the first inning in the seventh though, but got some help from Hassan in the outfield to strand Greenberg on third after he reached with a two-out triple. With the Terrapins threatening to cut into the 6-2 lead, Chad Durakis hit a blooper behind second base, but Hassan flashed his range by sprinting in from his position in center field and fully extending to make the diving catch.

After Hassan's catch protected Duke's four-run lead, the Blue Devil outfield came through once again, but this time at the plate. Luciano was the hero this time after tagging his first career home run to open what became a three-run inning for the Blue Devils. Luciano's long ball stayed just inside the left field foul pole and was the season-high third homer of the game for Duke. Following Luciano's home run, Maryland sent Matt Quinn to the mound, but he did not fare much better and gave up a single to Hassan and a double to Williams to put both runners in scoring position. Freiman and Gould sent them in with consecutive sacrifice flies before Quinn was finally able to end the inning.

Duke left Manno out in the eighth inning, and it paid off as he sat down three of the next four on 14 pitches. He was pulled just before the ninth inning in favor of classmate Will Currier, who rebounded from a leadoff single by Pupa to retire the next three batters in order.

The win evens the ACC series out at one game each. The rubber game will take place on Sunday, April 27, at 1 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field. Jonathan Foreman (2-0, 1.69 ERA) will make his second consecutive weekend start tomorrow opposite Maryland right-hander Kevin Biringer (3-3, 7.12 ERA).

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