Pack Baseball Falls To Devils

Saturday, April 28

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

NC State

25-23, 0

Duke

21-27, 0

NC State

DUKE

4/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 28, 2001

DURHAM, N.C. - Doug Bechtold's RBI single capped a three-run Duke uprising in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Blue Devils came from behind to hand NC State a crushing 11-10 defeat in an Atlantic Coast Conference baseball game Saturday night at Jack Coombs Field.

The win by the Blue Devils evened the series at a game apiece, with the third and final game set for Sunday afternoon. Duke improved to 21-27 overall and 8-11 in the ACC. The Wolfpack dropped to 25-23 overall and 8-12 in the conference.

Duke reliever Jeff Elleva (3-1) picked up the win after allowing four runs, three of them unearned, on three hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked none and struck out none. NC State reliever Ryan Combs (3-3) took the loss after being charged with three runs, two of them unearned, on five hits in two innings. He walked one and struck out one.

Jeremy Dutton led off the game with a single up the middle, went to second on a groundout and scored the game's first run on Sean Walsh's RBI opposite-field double down the right-field line to give NC State a 1-0 lead.

The Wolfpack added four more in the top of the second. David Hicks led off with a single to center and stole second. Adam Miller singled through the left side, with Hicks stopping at third. Eric Mosley tried to squeeze home a run, but Hicks was out at the plate. Dutton followed with a two-run triple down the line in right, and Brian Wright followed with a two-run homer to right, his eighth long ball of the season, to give NC State a 5-0 lead after an inning and a half.

David Mason and Bechtold led off the bottom of the second for Duke with singles to put runners on first and third, and Adam Loftin drove in a run with a groundout to the shortstop, cutting the lead to 5-1.

J.D. Alleva led off the bottom of the third for the Blue Devils with a single, stole second and scored on Wes Goodner's single to left to pull Duke to within three runs at 5-2.

Duke loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth on a double by Drew Jerdan, a walk to Mason and a single by Bechtold. Loftin drove in a run with a walk, and another run scored when Scott Grossi reached on an error. Despite being jammed by the pitch, Kevin Kelly tied it at 5-5 with a bloop single over the infield into right field. Alleva then gave the Blue Devils a 7-5 lead with a two-run single to right.

Dutton and Wright hit back-to-back doubles to left-center with two out in the top of the seventh to cut the Duke lead to 7-6, but the Blue Devils got that run back in the bottom of the seventh on a leadoff single by Troy Caradonna, a groundout and an RBI single by Mason.

NC State erupted for three runs in the top of the eighth to retake the lead at 9-8. Hicks reached on a one-out error, and Jamey Shearin singled. Miller followed with a two-run triple down the right-field line, and pinch-hitter Daniel Pruitt hit a sacrifice fly to score Miller.

The Wolfpack added an unearned insurance run in the top of the ninth. Riley reached on a two-out error and scored on Colt Morton's RBI single up the middle, upping the lead to 10-8 and setting the stage for Duke's dramatic rally in the bottom of the ninth.

J.D. Alleva led off and was out on a fly ball to left field. Goodner was up next and hit a sharp grounder to Walsh at third. Walsh made a nice stop on the play, but his throw to first was dropped for an error. Brian Patrick singled to put runners on first and second.

Drew Jerdan singled to left, and the ball got through Wright for an error that allowed Goodner and Patrick to score and tie game at 10-10. Mason was walked intentionally, and Bechtold singled to left for the game-winning hit.