North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Splits Twin-Bill At Duke
4/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
DURHAM, N.C. - Jimmy Gillheeney scattered six hits over eight innings and four NC State hitters had four hits apiece as the Wolfpack defeated Duke 3-1 in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at Jack Coombs Field.
In the nightcap, Christopher Manno and Dennis O’Grady combined on a one-hitter over the first eight innings as the Blue Devils earned a split, defeating the Wolfpack 11-2.
The split leaves NC State a game behind Duke in the race for eighth place in the overall Atlantic Coast Conference standings. Duke now stands at 8-9 in the conference and 23-13 overall. The Wolfpack is 7-10 in the ACC and 18-16 overall. Only the top eight teams in the overall conference standings go to the ACC Tournament in May.
The Wolfpack drew first blood in the opener. Devon Cartwright smoked a one-out triple into the right-field corner in the top of the second inning and scored on Andrew Ciencin’s two-out single up the middle.
NC State used a pair of ground-ball singles and a hit batter to load the bases with none out in the top of the third. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Pratt Maynard and Pat Ferguson drove in two runs to stake Wolfpack starter Jimmy Gillheeney (5-1) to a 3-0 lead.
Gillheeney held the Blue Devils hitless through the first three innings. Nate Freiman walked to lead off the fourth, and Jeremy Gould singled to left, Duke’s first hit of the game. Gillheeney hit Will Piwnica-Worms with a pitch to load the bases, and Gabriel Saade’s sacrifice fly to center cut the lead to 3-1.
And that was how it stayed the rest of the game. Gillheeney, who did not allow a leadoff hitter to reach base other than in the fourth inning, had just one 1-2-3 inning through eight, but only allowed five runners to reach scoring position. He walked three and struck out three. Joey Cutler hit Ryan McCurdy leading off the ninth, but retired the next three hitters to earn his second save of the season.
Duke starter Andrew Wolcott (5-2) struggled thorugh the first four innings, but settled down after that and retired 12 of the last 14 men he faced before handing the ball over to reliever Michael Ness with one down and a runner on first in the top of the eighth inning. Wolcott allowed seven hits, walked three and fanned five.
The Wolfpack did not play nearly as well in the second game, committing four errors and managing just one hit through eight innings. Starter Jake Buchanan (2-4) wobbled through 6 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs, four of them unearned, on 10 hits. He walked one and struck out four. He also hit two batters.
Duke took its first lead of the series with an unearned run in the bottom of the second. The Blue Devils loaded the bases with one out on a single, a hit batter and an error, and McCurdy walked to force in a run. Buchanan got out of the inning without further damage by inducing Piwnica-Worms to ground into a double play.
The Blue Devils added three more runs, all unearned, in the bottom of the third. Matt Williams led off an reached on an error by Bill Edwards at third base. Freiman singled sharply through the left side of the infield, and Gould sacrificed the runners to second and third. Alex Hassan singled to left to make it 2-0, and with two down, Jake Lemmerman singled to right to drive in Freiman and make it 3-0. Hassan went all the way to third on the play, and scored when Drew Poulk’s throw from right went wide of home plate and rolled to the backstop for another error.
Lemmerman led off the bottom of the sixth and legged out a double to right field. Saade bunted Lemmerman to third, and McCurdy got the run home with a squeeze bunt back to the mound. Buchanan thought about going home with the ball, but thought better of it and took the sure out at first base. Lemmerman’s run gave the Blue Devils a 5-0 lead.
Duke blew the game open in the bottom of the seventh. Freiman got things rolling with a one-out line drive to left for a single. Gould singled to left to put runners on first and second. Hassan singled up the middle to drive in Freiman. Hassan and Gould each moved up a base when Wade Moore’s throw from center field got by third base for an error. Buchanan hit Marcus Jones with a pitch to load the bases, and that was the end of the line for Buchanan. Travis High came out of the bullpen and Lemmerman welcomed him to the game with a sacrifice fly to center field. Saade followed with a three-run homer to give the Blue Devils a 10-0 lead.
Duke added one more run in the bottom of the eighth when Freiman grounded into a double play with a runner on third.
Manno (3-4) took a no-hitter into the top of the fifth before Edwards capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a sharp single to center field. That was all the offense NC State could muster until the ninth inning, however. Manno did walk four, but struck out eight in his six innings on the mound.
Dennis O’Grady came in to pitch for Duke in the seventh retired eight batters in a row before running into trouble in the ninth. With two down and none on, Andrew Ciencin doubled to left-center and pinch-hitter John Gianis reached on a two-base error by Saade at second base to drive in Ciencin and snap the shutout bid. Chris Schaeffer then doubled to right-center for the game’s final run. O’Grady got credit for the three-inning save, his first save of the season.
NC State and Duke will play the final game of this weekend’s series on Sunday at 1 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.
In the nightcap, Christopher Manno and Dennis O’Grady combined on a one-hitter over the first eight innings as the Blue Devils earned a split, defeating the Wolfpack 11-2.
The split leaves NC State a game behind Duke in the race for eighth place in the overall Atlantic Coast Conference standings. Duke now stands at 8-9 in the conference and 23-13 overall. The Wolfpack is 7-10 in the ACC and 18-16 overall. Only the top eight teams in the overall conference standings go to the ACC Tournament in May.
The Wolfpack drew first blood in the opener. Devon Cartwright smoked a one-out triple into the right-field corner in the top of the second inning and scored on Andrew Ciencin’s two-out single up the middle.
NC State used a pair of ground-ball singles and a hit batter to load the bases with none out in the top of the third. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Pratt Maynard and Pat Ferguson drove in two runs to stake Wolfpack starter Jimmy Gillheeney (5-1) to a 3-0 lead.
Gillheeney held the Blue Devils hitless through the first three innings. Nate Freiman walked to lead off the fourth, and Jeremy Gould singled to left, Duke’s first hit of the game. Gillheeney hit Will Piwnica-Worms with a pitch to load the bases, and Gabriel Saade’s sacrifice fly to center cut the lead to 3-1.
And that was how it stayed the rest of the game. Gillheeney, who did not allow a leadoff hitter to reach base other than in the fourth inning, had just one 1-2-3 inning through eight, but only allowed five runners to reach scoring position. He walked three and struck out three. Joey Cutler hit Ryan McCurdy leading off the ninth, but retired the next three hitters to earn his second save of the season.
Duke starter Andrew Wolcott (5-2) struggled thorugh the first four innings, but settled down after that and retired 12 of the last 14 men he faced before handing the ball over to reliever Michael Ness with one down and a runner on first in the top of the eighth inning. Wolcott allowed seven hits, walked three and fanned five.
The Wolfpack did not play nearly as well in the second game, committing four errors and managing just one hit through eight innings. Starter Jake Buchanan (2-4) wobbled through 6 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs, four of them unearned, on 10 hits. He walked one and struck out four. He also hit two batters.
Duke took its first lead of the series with an unearned run in the bottom of the second. The Blue Devils loaded the bases with one out on a single, a hit batter and an error, and McCurdy walked to force in a run. Buchanan got out of the inning without further damage by inducing Piwnica-Worms to ground into a double play.
The Blue Devils added three more runs, all unearned, in the bottom of the third. Matt Williams led off an reached on an error by Bill Edwards at third base. Freiman singled sharply through the left side of the infield, and Gould sacrificed the runners to second and third. Alex Hassan singled to left to make it 2-0, and with two down, Jake Lemmerman singled to right to drive in Freiman and make it 3-0. Hassan went all the way to third on the play, and scored when Drew Poulk’s throw from right went wide of home plate and rolled to the backstop for another error.
Lemmerman led off the bottom of the sixth and legged out a double to right field. Saade bunted Lemmerman to third, and McCurdy got the run home with a squeeze bunt back to the mound. Buchanan thought about going home with the ball, but thought better of it and took the sure out at first base. Lemmerman’s run gave the Blue Devils a 5-0 lead.
Duke blew the game open in the bottom of the seventh. Freiman got things rolling with a one-out line drive to left for a single. Gould singled to left to put runners on first and second. Hassan singled up the middle to drive in Freiman. Hassan and Gould each moved up a base when Wade Moore’s throw from center field got by third base for an error. Buchanan hit Marcus Jones with a pitch to load the bases, and that was the end of the line for Buchanan. Travis High came out of the bullpen and Lemmerman welcomed him to the game with a sacrifice fly to center field. Saade followed with a three-run homer to give the Blue Devils a 10-0 lead.
Duke added one more run in the bottom of the eighth when Freiman grounded into a double play with a runner on third.
Manno (3-4) took a no-hitter into the top of the fifth before Edwards capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a sharp single to center field. That was all the offense NC State could muster until the ninth inning, however. Manno did walk four, but struck out eight in his six innings on the mound.
Dennis O’Grady came in to pitch for Duke in the seventh retired eight batters in a row before running into trouble in the ninth. With two down and none on, Andrew Ciencin doubled to left-center and pinch-hitter John Gianis reached on a two-base error by Saade at second base to drive in Ciencin and snap the shutout bid. Chris Schaeffer then doubled to right-center for the game’s final run. O’Grady got credit for the three-inning save, his first save of the season.
NC State and Duke will play the final game of this weekend’s series on Sunday at 1 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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