North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Sweeps Two From Duke, 12-7 And 8-4
4/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. (April 15) - Brian Wright homered and drove in four runs, and reliever Josh Schmitt struck out seven of the 13 men he faced April 15 to lead NC State to a 12-7 victory over Duke in the first game of an Atlantic Coast Conference doubleheader at Doak Field.
The second game of the doubleheader was the resumption of a game that was suspended Firday night with the Wolfpack holding an 8-2 lead in the eighth inning. In that game, Mike Prochaska had three hits, and Ryan Combs struck out a career-high nine in 7 1/3 innings as the Wolfpack held on for an 8-4 win.
The sweep improved NC State to 8-9 in the ACC and 23-17 overall. Duke dropped to 3-11 and 13-29.
In the first game, Schmitt worked the final 3 2/3 innings and allowed no runs on one hit and one walk. The seven strikeouts marked a career high for Schmitt, who notched his fifth save of the season. Josh Miller went 1 1/3 innings in relief of starter Dan D'Amato to get the win and improve to 3-0. Miller allowed a run on two hits and pitched out of a jam in the fifth inning. Duke starter Kevin Thompson gave up six runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings to take the loss and fall to 1-2.
The Blue Devils jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Wes Goodner, but the Wolfpack picked up two runs in the bottom of the second an RBI triple by Prochaska and a throwing error on the play that allowed Prochaska to score.
The Wolfpack blew the game open with a six-run third inning. Wright belted a two-run homer to make it 4-1, and after a sacrifice fly by Andy Baxter, back-to-back RBI doubles by Jason Smith and John Whitley gave the Pack a 7-1 lead. Eric Mosley singled to drive in the final run of the inning and make it 8-1.
Duke got two runs back in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Caradonna and an RBI single by Brian Patrick. The Blue Devils cut the lead to 8-6 with three more in the top of the fifth. The first run scored on an error, and Caradonna and Larry Broadway drove in the second and third runs of the inning with run-scoring groundouts.
The Blue Devils made it 8-7 on Goodner's squeeze bunt in the top of the sixth inning, but NC State bounced back with two in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Wright and an RBI single by Dan Mooney. Jeremy Dutton and Wright ripped RBI doubles in the top of the seventh to make the final score 12-7, NC State.
In the second game, which actually began on Friday night but now counts as the second game of the three-game series, Duke's Jeff Becker got the Devils off to a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of the first, but Andy Baxter tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI double in the bottom of the third. Smith followed with an RBI single and scored on the first of two doubles by Dutton to make it 3-1.
Smith led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, went to third on an error and scored on Mosely's RBI single. Wright added an RBI single and Mooney an RBI double later in the inning to give the Wolfpack a 6-1 lead. Becker drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-2, but Dutton's second double of the game drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth, and Mosely picked up an RBI in the seventh with a groundout to push NC State's lead to 8-2.
The game was suspended with runners on first and second and one out in the top of the eighth, and the Blue Devils pushed two runs across upon resumption of the game on a single by David Mason and hit batter with the bases loaded.
