Duke Splits Saturday Double Header With NC State, 3-1, 11-2

Saturday, April 11

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

N.C. State (Game One of DH)

Duke Splits Saturday Double Header With NC State, 3-1, 11-2

4/11/2009 8:15:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Duke rebounded from a series-opening 3-1 loss against NC State to take game two of a Saturday double header 11-2 behind a six-inning, eight-strikeout performance from Christopher Manno Saturday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field.

NC State's game one starter, Jimmy Gillheeney (5-1) held Duke to one run over eight complete innings to outduel Duke game one starter Andrew Wolcott (5-2), who scattered three runs and seven hits over a career-high matching 7.1 innings. Neither starter allowed a run after the fourth inning in the opening game while each topped 110 pitches with Gillheeney firing 115 and Wolcott a career-high 123.

Game two featured a one-hit performance from Manno (3-4), who allowed just one hit in his six innings and threw a career-high 110 pitches. Reliever Dennis O'Grady took over for Manno and retired the first eight batters he faced on the way to his first save of the season. The duo came within one out of combining for a one-hit shutout before the Wolfpack (18-16, 7-10 ACC) took advantage of a Duke fielding error with two outs in the top of the ninth and strung together a pair of doubles to scratch across two runs.

Duke's pitching staff combined for a 1.50 ERA in the 18-inning marathon, giving up just three earned runs on 13 hits for the day. Wolcott was a hard-luck loser in his first series-opening start of the season, but still boasts the best three-best earned run averages n the ACC at 2.18. The Duke hurlers benefited from a solid defensive effort that saw Duke (23-13, 6-9 ACC) commit just one error in the two-game set.

Senior catcher Matt Williams held NC State in check on the base paths, throwing out all three runners that tried to steal against him while catching both games of the double header. Williams has now caught five runners stealing in his last four games and has gunned down 11 on the season while allowing just 15 to come up safe.

Duke right fielder Alex Hassan was moved to the five-spot in the batting order in game two and responded by going 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI. Hassan also doubled and stole a base in the game and improved his team-leading batting average to .383.

Game One: Gillheeney Outduels Wolcott In Matchup Of Top ACC Starters

Jimmy Gillheeney held Duke to one run over eight complete innings in the 3-1 series-opening win. Gillheeney threw 115 pitches and came out on the winning end of a pitcher's duel against Duke starter Andrew Wolcott, who gave up three runs over a career-long matching 7.1 innings. Neither pitcher gave up a run after the fourth inning.

Two sacrifice flies in the top of the third inning from Pratt Maynard and Pat Ferguson gave Gillheeney just enough run support, as he held Duke scoreless over his final four innings of work. Joey Cutler took over in the ninth and sat down three of the four batters he faced to lock up the win. Second baseman Andrew Ciencin contributed the other Wolfpack run with one of his two hits in the game.

Duke's lone run came on a sacrifice fly ball by Gabriel Saade in the bottom of the fourth inning. The RBI flyout plated Nate Freiman, who reached base three times with two walks and a single.

Following a scoreless first inning, a triple by Devon Cartwright and a two-out RBI single by Andrew Ciencin gave the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. After Cartwright's one-out three-bagger started the rally, Wolcott and Wilson battled through an eight-pitch at bat in which Wilson fouled off four pitches, including two with two strikes, before the Duke senior won the battle and got him to swing through a 2-2 fastball for the second out. Cartwright was still on third base after the punchout, however, setting up Ciencin for his two-out RBI single. Ciencin took two pitches in his at bat before roping Wolcott's 1-1 offering right back up the middle for a base hit. He tried to steal second base two pitches later, but Wolcott and Williams hooked up on a pitchout that allowed Williams to gun down Ciencin for his ninth runner caught stealing of the season.

Wolcott got himself into another jam in the bottom of the second, but limited the damage to two runs after loading the bases with no outs. NC State scored both runs on sacrifice flies from Maynard and Ferguson to go ahead 3-0. Drew Martin started the rally with a single through the left side and was quickly joined on the base paths by Poulk, who was hit by a pitch, and Gionis, who belted another single through the right side. With the bases loaded and no outs, Maynard hammered a deep fly ball to straight-away center field, but Piwnica-Worms ran it down all the way to the warning track and made the catch over his shoulder to limit the damage. Martin scored on the sacrifice fly, which also left runners at the corners for Ferguson, who lifted another sac fly to left field that scored Poulk and ran NC State's lead to 3-0. Gionis stayed on first base on Ferguson's sac fly, but tried to take second on the next pitch. Once again, however, Williams gunned him down at second base for his fourth caught stealing in his last three games.

The Wolfpack led off the third with a double from Drew Poulk and loaded the bases again, but came away empty-handed after Wolcott pitched himself out of the jam. Cartwright and Ciencin both reached base with a walk and a single following Poulk's double, but were left stranded after Wolcott struck out Martin looking and rolled a two-out ground ball to McCurdy, who stepped on third for the final out.

The Blue Devils sent in their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Saade that trimmed the deficit to 3-1. That would be all Duke could manage, however, despite loading the bases with no outs. Gilheeney wrapped two free passes around a Gould single to put three men on base for Duke before he got his first out by forcing Lemmerman to fly out to shallow right field. Freiman, who drew his second straight walk to start the inning, opted not to test the arm of NC State right fielder Drew Poulk, but would have plenty of time to score on the next fly ball from Saade, which he lifted into center field for his 18th RBI of the season. With men on first and second and two outs after Saade's RBI fly ball, Duke tried a hit-and-run, but got nothing out of it as Brian Litwin popped up harmlessly to the shortstop.

Wolcott came out in the fifth and had his best inning, using just eight pitches to retire the side in order. He struck out the last batter he faced with a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner that Ferguson swung at, but could not catch up with.

The middle of the Blue Devil lineup mounted a small two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth, but Gilheeney negated a pair of two-out hits by Williams and Freiman by stranding the runners at the corners. After Gilheeney got two quick outs to open the inning, Williams belted a two-strike single right back up the middle to give Duke its first base runner of the inning. That brought Freiman to the plate, who poked a ground ball off the end of his bat to the second base that just got under Ciencin's glove for a single. Williams went from first to third on the slow roller, but was left there after Gould flew out to right field for the third out.

Wolcott made quick work of the Wolfpack again in the sixth, facing the minimum three batters while forcing two weak popouts. He surrendered a two-out walk to pinch hitter Wade Moore, but erased the mistake by picking him off at first base.

Wolcott came out and sat down the side in order again in the top of the seventh to hold the Wolfpack scoreless for the fourth straight inning. The 6-6, 240 pound senior struck out Ciencin for his fourth strikeout of the game and then got a foulout and a groundout to close out the inning. Through his seven innings of work, Wolcott had thrown a career-high 114 pitches, 65 of which were strikes.

Williams gave Duke another two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Blue Devils once again had their two-out rally foiled. Freiman followed Williams' knock by drilling a line drive to the left side, but it was hit right at Poulk, who took one step to his glove side and caught the ball for the third out.

Duke let Wolcott stay on into the eighth inning, and he struck out the first batter he faced to match a career high with 7.1 innings pitched. He had a chance to surpass that mark, but gave up a one-out walk to Maynard which prompted Duke head coach Sean McNally to call on Ness to inherit Maynard on first base with one out. The Duke right-hander rolled a potential double-play ground ball from Ferguson, but the Blue Devils were only able to get one out from the play after Ferguson beat out the throw to first base by less than half of a step. The Wolfpack mounted a quick rally after the foiled double play and loaded the bases on a single from Poulk and a hit batsman before Ness got out of the inning by rolling a fielder's choice ground ball to Lemmerman.

Gilheeney also stayed on the mound in the bottom of the eighth and made it through the inning, but not without having to get himself out of a two-out jam. Piwnica-Worms roped a one-out double down the first base line for the Blue Devils and was soon joined on the base paths by Saade, who drew a two-out walk. With the tying run on first base, Duke opted to bring in sophomore Dennis O'Grady as a pinch-hitter for Litwin. Gilheeney was not intimidated by O'Grady's .303 batting average, however, and got him to chase a 2-2 breaking ball in the dirt for the final out.

Needing just three more outs to lock up the win, NC State went to reliever Joey Cutler in the ninth inning. Cutler hit McCurdy to open the inning, but quickly settled down to retire Duke's final three hitters and record his second save of the year.

Game Two: Manno And O'Grady Shut Down Wolfpack

Christopher Manno struck out eight batters and gave up just one hit in six complete innings, and Alex Hassan went 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI to lead Duke to an 11-2 win over NC State.

Manno (3-4) and reliever Dennis O'Grady combined to come up one out short of a one-hit shutout before NC State took advantage of a two-out Duke error in the ninth inning to score the Wolfpack's first two runs of the game. Manno threw a career-high 110 pitches and matched a season high with eight punchouts while walking four and giving up a single in the fifth inning. O'Grady, meanwhile, retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up a double with two outs in the ninth inning. The sophomore reliever notched his first save of the season with the three-inning performance in which he held NC State to two unearned runs on two hits and no walks.

Hassan accounted for five of Duke's 11 runs and stole a base, while junior classmate Gabriel Saade drove in a team-high three runs with his first home run of the season. Jake Lemmerman and Ryan McCurdy also had two RBI apiece with Lemmerman going 2-for-2 with a double and McCurdy sending in his runs with a squeeze bunt an RBI walk. Nate Freiman also tagged three hits and scored twice.

Duke tagged NC State starter Jake Buchanan for 10 hits and nine runs, though only five were earned. The Wolfpack committed four errors in the game while managing just three hits, two of which came with two outs in the ninth. Chris Schaeffer accounted for NC State's only RBI with a two-out double in the bottom of the ninth.

Manno opened his first inning by striking out the first and third batters he faced to bookend a 1-2-3 inning. He got Dallas Poulk swinging on a 1-2 fastball and then caught Drew Poulk looking with a 2-2 fastball that he snuck in the bottom part of the strike zone.

Manno fanned three more Wolfpack hitters in the top of the second without allowing a ball in play. He caught Andrew Ciencin looking with a backdoor breaking ball for the first punchout of the inning and then blew two-strike fastballs past Russell Wilson and Bill Edwards. The three strikeouts gave Manno five for the game and helped to offset two walks in the inning, which gave NC State its first two runners of the game.

The Wolfpack gave Duke a run in the bottom of the second inning with a fielding error that loaded the bases and set the table for a bases-loaded walk drawn by Ryan McCurdy. The error came just after a Jake Lemmerman sacrifice bunt pushed Hassan and Marcus Jones into scoring position. Saade stepped into the box after the bunt and pulled a ground ball to third base where Edwards fielded it and threw to first base. Edwards' throw was high, however, which gave Saade just enough room to slide under the tag of first baseman Harold Riggins. Buchanan then dished out a four-pitch walk to McCurdy to send in a run before rolling a double-play ground ball to his shortstop to end the inning.

Manno went without a strikeout in the third inning, but picked off a runner for the fourth time this season. He gave up a one-out walk to Devon Cartwright, but then caught him sleeping on first base for the second out of the inning. He then got three-hitter Drew Poulk to foul out to Williams behind the plate, stranding Wade Moore on second base.

NC State made two more errors in the bottom of the third which led to three unearned runs and a 4-0 Duke lead. The first came on a leadoff ground ball by Williams that Edwards fielded, but threw on a short hop to Riggins at first base. Riggins could not make the pick, and Williams came up safe. Freiman then hammered a single through the left side before both he and Williams were pushed into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Gould. Hassan followed with another base knock through the left side that scored Williams and left runners at the corners. Buchanan responded by striking out Jones for the second out, but then gave up a bloop single to Lemmerman that sent in another run. Hassan went from first to third on Lemmerman's single and drew a throw from Poulk in right field. Poulk's throw short-hopped Edwards and rolled to the backstop, allowing Hassan to easily score from third for Duke's third run of the inning.

Manno kept cruising through the fifth inning and did not give up his first hit until the start of the fifth. He rebounded to strike out two more in that inning, giving him eight in the game which tied a season-high he set in a win over Wake Forest. His pitch count had reached 100 by the end of the fifth, however, after giving up four walks and going deep into the count against Several NC State hitters.

With the high pitch count, Manno was much more efficient with his pitches in the sixth and used just 10 to retire the side in order. He rolled two groundouts during that frame and got the other out on a foul popup to Freiman.

Duke used a squeeze play to tack another run in the bottom of the sixth inning and go ahead 5-0. McCurdy laid down the bunt that plated Lemmerman, who opened the inning with a double that fell just inside the right field foul line. McCurdy's bunt was the second of two consecutive bunts for Duke, the other of which was a sacrifice by Saade that moved Lemmerman to third. McCurdy, who is Duke's active leader with 20 sacrifice hits, laid down a bunt right in front of the pitcher's mound with Lemmerman charging to the plate. Buchanan fielded the ball, but had no choice but to throw to first base to force out O'Grady.

After Manno held the Wolfpack to just one hit over six complete innings, O'Grady took over in the seventh and kept the shutout alive by retiring the side in order. O'Grady came out firing strikes, putting eight of his 12 pitches in the zone, and got one of the outs himself after gloving a hard-hit ground ball hit right back at him by pinch hitter John Gianis.

Duke finally knocked Buchanan out of the game in the bottom of the seventh after stringing together three straight hits and a hit batter on the way to a five-run inning that included a three-run home run for Saade. Buchanan gave up three straight hits to Freiman, Gould and Hassan before plunking Jones for the second time in the game. Hassan's base knock drove in Freiman for the first run, while Jones loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. Travis High then took over for the Wolfpack to inherit the one-out, bases-loaded jam, and promptly gave up an RBI sacrifice fly to Lemmerman that ran Duke's lead to 7-0. He then gave up a three-run bomb to Saade that cleared the left field fence and went halfway up the trees lining Jack Coombs Field to put Duke ahead 10-0.

O'Grady came back out and shut down NC State again in the eighth, using just nine pitches to retire all three batters he faced. In his 12th relief appearance of the year, O'Grady retired all six batters he faced to keep the 10-0 shutout alive heading into the bottom of the eight.

Duke scored for the third straight inning in the eighth after High plunked Piwnica-Worms to start the inning and allowed him to score on a double play. Duke tagged three hits off of High in the frame, including a pinch-hit single by Will Currier, but managed just one run, which put the lead at 11-0.

O'Grady stuck around to close out the ninth and sat down his eighth straight batter before surrendering a two-out double to Ciencin. The hit was only the second base knock of the game for NC State and its first since the fifth inning, but would eventually be enough to break up the shutout. With Ciencin on second base following the double, John Gianis slapped a ground ball to the right side that rolled under Saade's glove for an error that allowed Ciencin to score NC State's first run of the game. Ciencin's double would be the first of two in the inning for NC State, as Schaeffer roped another double after the error to send in another run. O'Grady finally ended the game by forcing a fly ball to left field where Joe Pedvillano ran it down in the gap for the final out.

Duke and NC State will now play for the series in the rubber game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Duke will put freshman Eric Pfisterer (2-1, 3.80 ERA) on the mound in his first career ACC start, while NC State has not yet announced a starter for game three.

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