North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Rebounds, Pounds Duke 8-1
4/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. One night after laying an egg in the series opener against Duke, NC State returned to its offensive ways of late and clubbed 14 hits, including four home runs, and defeated the Blue Devils 8-1 on Saturday at Doak Field at Dail Park.
The win by the Pack evened the three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series between the Wolfpack and Blue Devils at a game apiece. NC State improved to 22-11 overall and 9-7 in the ACC. Duke fell to 23-11 and 5-11. The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Wolfpack starter Eric Surkamp (3-2) got the win, pitching six strong innings despite a shaky start. Duke dinged Surkamp for a run on two hits in the top of the first inning on back-to-back doubles by Alex Hassan and Matt Williams. Jonathan Nicolla led off the top of the second with a double, and the Duke offense went silent the rest of the night. Surkamp retired 13 of the final 18 men he faced. One of the five men who reached did so on an error, not Surkamp’s fault. Two others were erased when Surkamp rolled double-play grounders in the third and sixth innings. Surkamp wound up allowing just the one run on seven hits. He struck out four without issuing a walk.
Duke starter Dennis O’Grady (3-1), making his first weekend start, did not fare so well. After cruising through the bottom of the first and setting down the first two batters in the second, he served up a solo home run to Pat Ferguson and singles to Tommy Foschi and Drew Martin, then committed a balk to score the second run of the inning. Marcus Jones made it 4-1 with a long two-run homer in the bottom of the third. O’Grady only went three innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He struck out two and did not issue a walk.
Ryan Perry came in for Duke to begin the fourth inning and Ferguson welcomed him to the game with an opposite-field homer leading off the inning. Jeremy Synan belted a solo homer in the fifth to make it 6-1.
Ryan Knott, the last of Duke’s three pitchers, gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on singles by Ryan Pond and Synan, a wild pitch and a two-run infield single by Jones, who hustled to beat out a grounder to shortstop. Pond scored from third on the play, and Synan, who never stopped running on the play, rounded third and beat the throw to the plate to give the Wolfpack an 8-1 lead.
Freshman righthander Jake Buchanan worked the final three innings without allowing a run for the Wolfpack, allowing a walk, hitting a batter and striking out one. The save was his third of the season.
NC State and Duke will play the second game of this weekend’s series Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on the internet at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
The win by the Pack evened the three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series between the Wolfpack and Blue Devils at a game apiece. NC State improved to 22-11 overall and 9-7 in the ACC. Duke fell to 23-11 and 5-11. The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Wolfpack starter Eric Surkamp (3-2) got the win, pitching six strong innings despite a shaky start. Duke dinged Surkamp for a run on two hits in the top of the first inning on back-to-back doubles by Alex Hassan and Matt Williams. Jonathan Nicolla led off the top of the second with a double, and the Duke offense went silent the rest of the night. Surkamp retired 13 of the final 18 men he faced. One of the five men who reached did so on an error, not Surkamp’s fault. Two others were erased when Surkamp rolled double-play grounders in the third and sixth innings. Surkamp wound up allowing just the one run on seven hits. He struck out four without issuing a walk.
Duke starter Dennis O’Grady (3-1), making his first weekend start, did not fare so well. After cruising through the bottom of the first and setting down the first two batters in the second, he served up a solo home run to Pat Ferguson and singles to Tommy Foschi and Drew Martin, then committed a balk to score the second run of the inning. Marcus Jones made it 4-1 with a long two-run homer in the bottom of the third. O’Grady only went three innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He struck out two and did not issue a walk.
Ryan Perry came in for Duke to begin the fourth inning and Ferguson welcomed him to the game with an opposite-field homer leading off the inning. Jeremy Synan belted a solo homer in the fifth to make it 6-1.
Ryan Knott, the last of Duke’s three pitchers, gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on singles by Ryan Pond and Synan, a wild pitch and a two-run infield single by Jones, who hustled to beat out a grounder to shortstop. Pond scored from third on the play, and Synan, who never stopped running on the play, rounded third and beat the throw to the plate to give the Wolfpack an 8-1 lead.
Freshman righthander Jake Buchanan worked the final three innings without allowing a run for the Wolfpack, allowing a walk, hitting a batter and striking out one. The save was his third of the season.
NC State and Duke will play the second game of this weekend’s series Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on the internet at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
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