NC State Baseball Sweeps Duke, 11-4

Sunday, April 6

Durham, N.C.

1:30 PM

NC State

27-7, 0

Duke

13-19, 0

NC State

Duke

4/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 6, 2003

Final Stats

DURHAM, N.C. - David Hicks and Justin Riley continued their phenomenal weekends, and Vern Sterry and Joey Devine combined to scatter eight hits Sunday as NC State defeated Duke 11-4 for a sweep of the Pack's three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series with the Blue Devils. The series victory was the first for NC State at Duke since 1995, and was the first three-game sweep of the Blue Devils by NC State since 1991.

The Wolfpack, ranked 12th nationally, improved to 27-7 overall and 7-2 in the ACC. NC State now has won four games in a row, six of its last seven, and 22 of its last 25. With the loss, Duke dropped to 13-19 overall and 0-8 in the ACC.

Sterry (8-0), a junior righthander, continued his outstanding season, working six solid innings and allowing three runs, two of them earned, on six hits. He walked one and struck out seven. Devine, a true freshman righthander, worked the final three innings for his ACC-leading 10th save. He allowed one run on two hits in three innings. He walked none and struck out two. Duke's run in the seventh inning snapped Devine's scoreless-innings streak at 23-1/3. At 4-0 with 10 saves, Devine has won or saved 14 of NC State's 27 victories this season. He is only the fourth pitcher in NC State history to notch 10 or more saves in a single season.

Duke starter Kevin Thompson (2-6) went six innings and allowed seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits. He walked two and struck out two.

Colt Morton led off the top of the second with a first-pitch double to left and scored on Hicks's single to center. Lee Mezistrano walked, and Dustin Knight bounced into a force play, with Mezistrano erased at second. Matt Camp followed with an opposite-field RBI single to left to drive in Hicks and give NC State a 2-0 lead.

Duke got a run back in the bottom of the second when Grant Stanley singled to left, stole second and scored on Brian Hernandez's two-out bloop single to right. The Devils took the lead in the bottom of the third. Javier Socorro led off with a single to right and stole second. Adam Murray walked, and Socorro stole third on ball four to Murray. Brian Patrick tried to squeeze the runner home, but Sterry fielded the ball and flipped to Morton in plenty of time to retire Socorro for the first out. Tim Layden singled to right to drive in Murray with the tying run, leaving runners on the corners. Layden then stole second base, and Patrick came in to score the go-ahead run when Morton's throw got past Matt Camp at second base for an error on Camp.

The Wolfpack answered back the quick way, by dialing long distance. Justin Riley and Colt Morton led off the top of the fourth with back-to-back homers to left field to jump the Wolfpack back into the lead at 4-3. Riley's was his fourth of the series, his fifth of the week, and his ninth of the season. Morton's was his 12th of the season. With one out, Mezistrano doubled to left field, went to third on a groundout, and scored to make it 5-3 on Camp's second RBI single of the game.

Hicks led off the top of the sixth with a double to right-center and took third on Mezistrano's single to center. Adam Hargrave's dribbler in front of the plate went for an infield single to load the bases. Camp bounced to the pitcher, who forced Hicks at the plate, but Orvella hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Mezistrano, and Hargrave scored on an errant pickoff throw at first base to make it 7-3.

Joey Devine came in to pitch for the Wolfpack in the bottom of the seventh and the Blue Devils worked him for a run when Patrick doubled to left with two away and scored on Layden's single to left, pulling Duke to within three runs at 7-4.

NC State blew the game open in the top of the eighth. Hicks led off with a double into the right-field corner, his third hit of the game and his 10th hit of the series. He pulled up with a hamstring injury on the play, and Matt Long pinch-ran and immediately went to third on a wild pitch. With one away, Hargrave chopped a single through the left side of the drawn-in infield to drive in Long and make it 8-4. After Camp flied out to left, Hargrave stole second and went to third on a balk. Orvella walked and Maynor struck out, but the ball got past Duke catcher Chris Caradonna for a wild pitch. Hargrave scored on the wild pitch, and Caradonna's throw to first base was high for an error, allowing Orvella, who was running with the pitch, to score all the way from first. Maynor wound up on second, and scored on Jeremy Dutton's single to right, increasing the Wolfpack's lead to 11-4.