Duke Falls 7-3 At Clemson In Series Opener

Friday, April 3

Clemson, S.C.

6:30 PM

Duke University

Clemson

Duke Baseball Notes: Duke vs. UNC Greensboro (March 4)

Duke Falls 7-3 At Clemson In Series Opener

4/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Ben Paulsen, Kyle Parker and Jason Stolz all homered and combined for four RBI to lead 17th-ranked Clemson to a 7-3 win over Duke Friday night at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Their three long balls backed the pitching performance of starter Casey Harman and reliever Clinton McKinney (2-0), who combined to hold Duke to two earned runs over nine innings. Duke pounded 11 hits off the duo, but stranded eight base runners in the loss.

McKinney took over in the fifth inning and went on to hold Duke (19-10, 6-7 ACC) to four hits and one unearned run through the remainder of the game. He shut down a Duke offense that pounded seven hits off of Harman and held an early 2-1 lead until Paulsen put Clemson on top for good with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.

Duke starter Christopher Manno (2-4) held Clemson (19-9, 8-5 ACC) to four earned runs over six complete innings, but gave up two home runs that accounted for three of those runs. Manno struck out three batters and threw 104 pitches before handing the ball over to sophomore Dennis O'Grady, who gave up three runs over two innings in his 10th relief appearance of the year.

Duke stayed within two runs of tying the game until Clemson churned out three runs in the bottom of the eighth to go ahead 7-2. Freshman outfielder Joe Pedevillano provided a late spark for the Blue Devils after coming off the bench to knock his first two career hits, including a leadoff double in the ninth inning that led to Duke's final run of the game.

All but one of Clemson's starters had a hit in the game with four through six hitters Paulsen, Parker and Brad Miller finishing a combined 5-for-12 with three extra base hits and four RBI. Center fielder Addison Johnson went 2-for-2 for the Tigers with a run scored.

Duke matched Clemson with 11 hits in the game with Pedevillano, shortstop Jake Lemmerman and outfielder Will Piwnica-Worms accounting for two each. Piwnica-Worms, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, tagged multiple hits for the fourth straight game and the ninth time in Duke's last 11 contests. Lemmerman, Alex Hassan and Jeremy Gould contributed one RBI apiece for the Blue Devils, while Gould, Pedevillano, Nate Freiman and Gabriel Saade each doubled.

Hassan opened the game with a single to left field for Duke in the top of the first to become the first of two Blue Devils to reach base in the inning. Freiman drew a one-out walk to push Hassan over to third, but the duo got no further as Harman induced an inning-ending double-play ground ball to get himself out of the jam.

Two-hitter Addison Johnson countered with a one-out single in the bottom of the first for Clemson, but was also left stranded on second thanks to some clutch pitching from Manno. Manno balked with a 2-0 count against Jeff Schaus to send Johnson over to second, but rebounded to force the Clemson three-hitter to fly out to shallow right field for out number two. He then jumped ahead 0-2 against Paulsen in the cleanup spot and blocked a hard-hit ground ball that Paulsen hit right back at him before recovering it and flipping it to first base for the third out.

Duke had another chance to score in the top of the second after Lemmerman and Piwnica-Worms tagged back-to-back singles to start the inning. Saade pushed them both into scoring position two pitches later with a well-placed sacrifice bunt down the third base line, but Harman stifled the rally by striking out Duke's eight and nine-hitter on eight pitches to keep the Blue Devils scoreless.

The Tigers turned around and tagged two hits of their own to open the bottom of the second that led to a 1-0 Clemson lead. Parker got the rally started with a two-strike single to left and scored from first base on a hit-and-run that featured a two-strike double by Brad Miller. Manno settled in after giving up the base hits and sat down three of Clemson's next four batters to exit the inning.

Freiman tagged a two-out double to left field for Duke in the top of the second and was joined on the base paths by Gould, who was hit with a pitch. Duke once again stranded both runners, however, erasing the two-out double by Freiman, which was his team-leading 21st extra-base hit of the season.

Manno gave up two more leadoff singles in the bottom of the third, but got some help from Freiman, who turned a 3-6-3 double play to pick up two quick outs and help the Blue Devils get out of the inning unharmed. After Johnson reached with an infield single down the first base line that Freiman dove for and knocked down to keep it in the infield, Schaus reached with another cheap hit that blooped into shallow center field. The consecutive singles brought Clemson cleanup hitter Paulsen to the plate with no outs, but Manno got him to pull a ground ball to Freiman, who fielded it and threw to second base where Lemmerman caught it on the bag and sent it right back to Freiman at first base for Duke's 27th double play of the season. The turn pushed Johnson over to third, but he was left stranded there when Parker popped up to Saade for the final out.

Saade racked a double down the left field line and stole third in the top of the fourth, but the bottom of Duke's lineup could not get him in and stranded the team's sixth runner of the game. Saade reached third with just one out, but Harman got out of the jam by striking out Tom Luciano and forcing Ryan McCurdy to foul out to first base on a full count.

Duke, which had five hits in the first four innings, finally put a rally together in the top of the fifth and took a 2-1 lead thanks to a pair of two-out hits from Gould and Lemmerman. Freiman started the two-out rally after being hit by Harman's 1-2 offering and then got a free pass to second base on a wild pitch to Gould. Gould then ripped a double to left field that sent Freiman across the plate and tied the game at 1-1 and left Lemmerman with his second RBI opportunity of the game. He came through this time, ripping a base hit to right field to send Gould toward the plate, where he slid around Clemson catcher Phil Pohl to beat the incoming throw from Parker in right field. Lemmerman's hit knocked Harman out of the game and brought in the right-handed McKinney, who gave up a stolen base to Lemmerman with his first pitch. He held Lemmerman in check 90 feet from the plate, however and struck out Piwnica-Worms to end the threat.

Duke's lead did not last long, however, as Paulsen put the Tigers back on top with a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. Paulsen's two-run bomb came on a 2-2 count and just cleared the right field fence, sending him and Johnson, who walked with one out, across the plate.

Pedevillano, who entered the game in left field in the bottom of the fifth, came up in the sixth for his first at bat and slapped a ground ball back up the middle that he legged out for his first career hit. It did little damage, however, as McKinney rolled an inning-ending double play, which was Clemson's second turn of the game and their ACC-leading 28th of the season.

After a scoreless sixth, Stolz put the Tigers ahead 4-2 with a solo home run. The leadoff bomb cleared the left field wall after Stolz battled Manno to a 2-2 count and signaled the end of the game for Duke's starter. Stolz' homer was only Clemson's seventh hit of the game for Clemson, which was outhit 9-7 by the Blue Devils during that span. That would be the Tigers' only hit of the inning as well, as O'Grady retired three of Clemson's next four hitters to keep the deficit at 4-2.

McKinney continued to shut down Duke's bats through the eighth and retired three of Duke's next four batters to take the game into the bottom of the eighth. Piwnica-Worms managed a two-out single for his fourth straight multi-hit game, but was left on first base after Saade lined out hard to left field. It was also the ninth time in the last 11 games that Piwnica-Worms had at least two hits.

The Tigers made a ninth-inning comeback even more difficult for Duke with a three-run eighth inning that began with a first-pitch home run by Parker. Parker's solo shot was the first of three extra-base hits by Clemson, as Miller followed with a triple to the right field gap. All it took was a groundout to first base by pinch hitter Wilson Boyd to drive in Miller for the Tigers' sixth run of the ballgame. The scoring did not stop there, however, as Pohl delivered a one-out double and scored two batters later on a two-out infield single by Freeman.

Down 7-2 with just three outs left, Pedevillano started a Duke rally with a leadoff double to left field. Pedevillano's two-bagger fell into shallow left-center field and gave him plenty of time to turn the hit into a double. He moved over to third when McKinney tried to pick him off of second base, but sent his throw wide left of his shortstop and to the edge of the infield. Pedevillano took off for third as soon as the throw ricocheted off Miller's glove and slide head first to come up safe at third. Hassan drove him in with a sacrifice fly ball to right field, but that would be the end of the rally as McKinney forced one last flyout to end the game.

Duke and Clemson will continue the series on Saturday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. Senior right-hander Andrew Wolcott (4-1, 1.79 ERA) will toe the rubber for Duke opposite Clemson right-hander Graham Stoneburner (3-2, 3.48 ERA). Game three of the series will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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