Duke Rallies To Defeat Hartford 11-4 and Sweep Series

Wednesday, March 19

Durham, N.C.

2:00 PM

Duke University

Hartford

Duke Rallies To Defeat Hartford 11-4 and Sweep Series

3/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? After trailing 4-1 through the first seven innings, the Duke baseball team came back with 10 runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Hartford 11-4 Wednesday afternoon and clinch a two-game series at Jack Coombs Field.

Hartford starter Weston Szymanski held Duke to one run on three hits through the first seven innings before the Blue Devils knocked him out of the game in the middle of a 10-run, nine-hit eighth inning that erased the 4-1 deficit. Duke sent 14 hitters to the plate in the inning while stringing together five straight base hits in the inning.

Starting catcher Matt Williams was given the day off behind the plate to rest his legs, but ended up using his bat to drive in the go-ahead run with a two-run pinch-hit double in the bottom of the eighth. Senior Kyle Kreick, who started behind the plate in Williams' place, went 2-for-5 with two RBI, a double and his first career triple, while Jonathan Nicolla also drove in two runs. Sophomore Ryan McCurdy drove in the typing run with a two-RBI double in his return to the lineup, while sophomore Jeremy Gould contributed three runs and an RBI in a 1-for-3 outing.

Other than surrendering a three-run home run to Hartford center fielder Adam Bowser in the fourth inning, Duke starter Jonathan Foreman contributed a quality six innings, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out six. Freshman Dennis O'Grady (3-0) picked up for Foreman in the seventh and gave up just one hit through two innings to earn the win, while sophomore two-way player Alex Hassan retired the side in order in the ninth with two strikeouts. With the relief outings, Hassan runs his scoreless streak to five consecutive innings, while O'Grady becomes the only Blue Devil without a run allowed in 10 or more innings pitched.

Foreman was untouchable in his first two innings, retiring his first six batters while striking out the side in the second. Hartford threatened to score the first run of the game in the third after putting runners on second and third, but Foreman induced a ground ball to end the threat.

After squandering their first scoring opportunity, the Hawks took advantage of a pair of leadoff walks to start a four-run fourth inning. Three of the runs came off of a home run by Bowser that cleared the 375 marker in left-center field and put Hartford on top 4-0.

Meanwhile, Szymanski was cruising on the mound for Hartford, as the junior right-hander gave up just two hits and a walk through the first five innings. He retired the side in order in the third and fifth and allowed two runners to reach base in just one inning.

Duke mounted a small rally to cut the deficit to 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth after putting runners on second and third to start the inning. Both Gould and Kreick reached base to start the inning and ended up in scoring position after Kreick's double down the left field line. Nicolla then drove in Gould from third with a groundout to shortstop for his ninth RBI in the last seven games. The rally was quickly put to rest, however, after Szymanski induced another groundout to keep Kreick on second before dishing out his fifth strikeout of the game to end the inning.

Freshman Dennis O'Grady took over on the mound for Duke to start the seventh and held the Hawk offense in check, retiring six of seven hitters while allowing just one hit. The two-way Blue Devil struck out two in his two innings of work while becoming the only Blue Devil who has yet to allow a run through 10 or more innings. He kept Duke in the game just long enough for the Blue Devils to take the lead in the next half inning and was rewarded with his third career win for the effort

While Szymanski locked down Duke's offense for the first seven innings, he couldn't keep the Blue Devils down the entire game as Duke put together nine hits to score 10 runs in the eighth to take a 11-4 lead. Hassan jump-started the rally with a single up the middle before Gould joined him on the base paths after being hit by a pitch in his second straight at bat. Hassan then advanced to third after tagging on a flyout from Kreick before Nicolla sent him in with an RBI single through the left side. Three straight base knocks follow Nicolla's RBI single, as Jake Lemmerman reached with a base hit to right field to load the bases, prompting Hartford to bring in reliever Marc Toomey to face McCurdy with one out and the bases juiced. McCurdy made quick work of the Hawk reliever and took the second pitch he saw the other way for a two-RBI single that scored Gould and pinch-runner Tom Luciano to tie the game at 4-4. Williams then stepped into the box with two on as a pinch hitter and gave Duke the lead with a two-run double to the warning track in center field. Blue Devil junior Tim Sherlock then drew a walk to put runners on first and second before second baseman Kyle Butler laid a bunt single down the third base line to load the bases once again. Hassan came through with a sacrifice fly to score Williams, while Gould followed with an RBI single that left runners at the corners. Kreick then came to the plate for the second time in the inning and hammered a base-clearing triple to right field before Luciano ripped an RBI base hit back up the middle in his first career at bat.

With a comfortable 11-4 lead in hand, Duke sent Hassan to the mound to lock up the Blue Devils' ACC-leading 18th win of the season. Hassan struck out the first two batters he faced before ending the game with a groundout to Lemmerman, which gave him his team-leading fifth assist of the game.

Duke will continue ACC play this weekend as the Blue Devils travel to Atlanta, Ga., to take on Georgia Tech in a three-game series at Russ Chandler Stadium. The teams will open with a 6:30 p.m. contest on Friday, March 21 and follow with a 2 p.m. meeting on Saturday and a 1 p.m. affair on Sunday. Duke will then return briefly to Jack Coombs Field on Tuesday, March 25, for a single contest against Brown before taking the field at Durham Athletic Park on Wednesday against NCAA Division I newcomer N.C. Central.

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