Duke Sweeps Longwood 6-4, 10-3 In Monday Doubleheader

Monday, May 5

Durham, N.C.

TBA

Duke University

Longwood

Freiman Joins Manno On CBF National All-Star Lineup

Duke Sweeps Longwood 6-4, 10-3 In Monday Doubleheader

5/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Nate Freiman homered and drove in a pair of runs in game one and followed with three walks and a pair of runs in game two to lead Duke to a doubleheader sweep over Longwood by scores of 6-4 and 10-3 Monday afternoon at Jack Coombs Field.

Freiman went 2-for-4 with a double and his ninth home run of the season in the opener and reached base in four of his five plate appearances in game two. His two-run blast in game one broke open a 1-0 game and allowed Duke to maintain a lead for the rest of the game. With the performance, Freiman extended his hitting streak to 14 games and bumped his team-leading batting average up to .388.

Sophomore left hander Christopher Manno (6-0) picked up the game one victory after holding the Lancers to one hit over three shutout innings before being pulled in the fourth as part of a predetermined split. Manno struck out five batters in the first third of the game and used just 37 pitches during his three-inning tenure. The outing lowered his ERA to 2.61 on the season and improved his strikeout total to 71 on the year, making him the first Blue Devil to top 70 punchouts in a season since Greg Burke struck out 94 batters in 2005.

Sophomore reliever Michael Ness also made a big contribution on the mound in game one, tossing three-plus no-hit innings to earn his third save of the season. Ness entered the game with a second-and-third situation in the top of the sixth and got the Blue Devils (33-14-1, 8-14-1 ACC) out of the jam with their slim two-run lead still intact. He then proceeded to retire nine straight to close out the game and lead the Blue Devils to their 24th non-conference win of the season.

Game two featured a combined effort from sophomores Jonathan Foreman and Will Currier (5-5), who teamed up to hold Longwood (21-23) to three runs on 11 hits through the first eight innings. Each Blue Devil contributed four innings, with Foreman scattering five hits and two runs and Currier allowing just one run on six hits. Currier was awarded the win after entering the game in the fifth and holding the Lancers scoreless until giving up an RBI single in the eighth inning. Senior Ron Causey closed out the ninth with yet another scoreless inning of relief. Of his seven relief appearances on the season, Causey has held the opposition without a run in six of those. He owns the second-lowest ERA on the team at 1.12.

Duke also received offensive contributions from freshman shortstop Jake Lemmerman, sophomore second baseman Gabriel Saade and third baseman Ryan McCurdy. Lemmerman went 5-for-9 on the day, opening the twinbill with a 2-for-4 outing in game one to precede a 3-for-5 performance in game two. He added an RBI and a run in the second game, giving him 30 RBI and 32 runs scored on the year to become the fourth Blue Devil to reach the 30-30 plateau this season. The performance also raised his batting average to .280.

McCurdy, meanwhile, reached base in six of his nine plate appearances after being hit by four pitches on the day while also collecting a single and a pair of walks. Saade drove in three runs, all of which came in game two on a two-out, two-run double and a bases-loaded walk. Junior catcher Matt Williams also contributed three runs, scoring one in the opener and two more in game two.

The Blue Devils also went both games without committing an error, extending the team's errorless streak to five games. The streak matches the previous season-high for Duke, which was a 45-inning span in the first week of the season. Duke's .979 fielding percentage leads the ACC and ranks second in the nation.

First baseman Justin Morreim had a successful day at the plate for Longwood, going 2-for-4 with a run in game one and 3-for-5 with an RBI in game two. Third baseman Phil Cerreto and shortstop Scott Kimble also contributed a pair of three-hit games, both of which came in game two.

Game One: Freiman's Home Run Makes The Difference In 6-4 Win

Manno came out firing in his first inning of work and retired the side in order on just 11 pitches. Two of the outs were strikeouts, giving him 68 on the season. He was soon rewarded with a 1-0 lead to protect when an RBI double from Freiman in the bottom half of the first drove in Hassan for Duke's first run of the game. Hassan led off the inning with a double of his own after catching Longwood's defense sleeping on a bloop single. The leadoff man's two-strike single fell harmlessly into shallow center field, giving Hassan a window to speed around first base and come up safe at second. He was soon moved over to third by Williams, who drove a deep fly ball to right field to allow Hassan time to tag up from second before Freiman followed with his RBI double down the left field line.

Manno kept dealing in the second and struck out three more to give him five punchouts in the first two innings. Longwood first baseman Justin Morreim managed to beat out a bunt single to start the inning, but got no further as Manno fanned Longwood's next three batters to strand him at first.

While Manno was nearly untouchable on the mound for the Blue Devils, Lythgoe was also giving Duke a tough time as the Longwood starter settled down after Freiman's RBI double in the first to allow just one of his next seven batters to reach base. That tear soon ended with two outs in the third, however, after Lythgoe gave up a base hit to Williams before his next offering was hammered over the left field fence by Freiman for a two-run home run. The long ball was the ninth of the season and 21st of his career for Freiman and tied him with former Blue Devil standout J.D. Alleva for 12th place on Duke's all-time home run list.

Freiman's two-run homer came at the right time for Duke, as Longwood's bats came alive in the fourth after Duke swapped out O'Grady for Manno on the mound. O'Grady retired his first two batters, but gave up consecutive doubles down the right and left field lines to Havers and Nick Von Gersdorff, allowing the Lancers to trim the deficit to 3-1.

Duke quickly took back the run and picked up two more in the bottom half of the fourth to go ahead 6-1. Duke's first four batters reached base in the inning, including McCurdy, who drove in Duke's first run with an RBI single to left field. His base hit sent in Saade from second base just before Lemmerman followed with another single to right field to load the bases for nine-hitter Luciano. Luciano sent in one more with a fielder's choice ground ball while the Lancers gave Duke another run after committing a throwing error on the same play. Luciano's roller was easily converted into a force out at second base for the first out of the inning, but Longwood shortstop Scott Kimble opted to try and complete the double play at first base. His throw sailed over Morreim's head at first base, allowing McCurdy to keep running around third on the way to scoring an unearned run at the plate.

After a scoreless fifth, Longwood pounded three leadoff hits to start a sixth inning in which they scored three runs to narrow the deficit to 6-4. Three-hitter Phil Cerreto got the rally started with a line drive single through the left side and moved over to third after Morreim followed with a double to the right center gap. Havers drove in the first run with an ensuing RBI single through the left side that also moved Morreim to third, setting up a sacrifice fly from Von Gersdorff that cut Duke's lead to 6-3. Lancers Dan Quigley and Brant Jones kept the rally going when Quigley singled and Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Pinch hitter Paul Heidler then stepped into the box and mashed a sacrifice fly ball to deep center field to send in another run that narrowed the deficit to 6-4. The RBI flyout prompted Duke to bring in Ness, who inherited runners at second and third with two outs on the board and got out of the jam by inducing a groundout to his shortstop to end the inning.

Duke followed suit by loading the bases with two outs in the seventh, but came away empty-handed when Longwood pitcher John Walker got a glove on a potential RBI single up the middle by Nicolla to slow it down into a harmless groundout. Nicolla's hard-hit grounder back to the mound was on its way between Walker's legs before the junior right-hander got just enough glove on it to slow it down for his shortstop, who picked it up and fired to first to end the inning and strand all three runners.

Despite the foiled scoring opportunity, Duke was able to maintain its two-run lead thanks to Ness. After getting out of the second-and-third jam in the sixth, Ness went on to retire his next six batters in the seventh and eighth before sitting down all three in the ninth to notch the save.

Game Two: Foreman And Currier Combine For Eight Quality Innings In 10-3 Victory

Longwood starter Jonathan Watson was shaky in his first inning and put a pair of Blue Devils on base before balking in a run with two outs. Williams scored the run after drawing a full count walk and moving to third on another walk to Freiman and a fielder's choice groundout by Gould.

The Blue Devils manufactured a pair of runs on their own in the bottom of the second to go ahead 3-0, thanks to an RBI single from Kreick and a sacrifice fly by Sherlock. Kreick's RBI base knock followed a perfectly-executed hit-and-run by Jake Lemmerman that moved McCurdy from first to third after McCurdy was hit by a pitch, his third of the day, to start the inning. Kreick's ensuing base knock easily plated McCurdy and advanced Lemmerman to third, though the Lancers were able to pick up the first out of the inning after throwing out Kreick at second on the same play. Lemmerman was left standing on third though, setting up an RBI opportunity for Sherlock, who ripped the first pitch he saw to center field for a sacrifice fly ball. Hassan tried to keep the rally going with a line drive single through the left side, but was thrown out trying to steal second for the final out of the inning.

Trailing 3-0, Longwood got on the board in the next half inning on a two-out RBI single by cleanup hitter Justin Morreim. The Lancers had a chance to jump on top after putting a pair of runners on base with no outs, but Duke's defense bailed them out of the jam and limited the damage to one run. After a leadoff single by Scott Kimble and a walk to Robbie Bailey, Longwood two-hitter David Smiy attempted to move both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. The ball dropped down just in front of the plate where it was quickly picked up by catcher Kyle Kreick, who fired down to third base for the force out. The play saved a run on the next at bat when Morreim sent what would have been a sacrifice fly to deep right field, but became nothing more than the second out of the inning when right fielder Tim Sherlock wrapped up the ball in his mitt. Both Kimble and Bailey moved into scoring position on the flyout, however, setting up an RBI opportunity for Morreim who came through with a single on a line drive that just escaped McCurdy's grasp at third base. Sherlock saved any further damage on the next at bat by robbing Casey Havers of a potential RBI double. With a pair of runners on base, Havers ripped a tailing line drive to right, but the Blue Devil right fielder came in on the ball before laying out to his left to come up with the catch for the final out of the inning.

The Lancers strung together a pair of doubles in the top of the fourth to pick up another run and cut the deficit to one run at 3-2. The second two-bagger came off Kimble's bat with two outs and easily plated Von Gersdorff who led off the inning with a double of his own.

After four complete innings from Foreman, Currier took the mound in the fifth and would hold Longwood scoreless until the eighth inning. He got some help from his defense in the top of the sixth to erase a hit batsman and a base hit from Kimble. Currier opened the inning by hitting Lancer second baseman Brant Jones, but received some immediate help on the next at bat when catcher Topher Ellis ripped a line drive down the third base line. McCurdy was there to snag the line drive for one out, but made a heads up play by firing across the infield to first base to pick up the second out of the inning. Kimble then followed with a two-out single, but got no further as Saade was able to quickly change directions at second base after having to cover the bag on a hit-and-run. Leadoff hitter Robbie Bailey punched a ground ball to the right side on the hit-and-run, but it was cut off by Saade who flipped to first for the final out of the inning.

Saade's play followed his two-out bases-loaded double in the previous half inning that sparked a four-run rally by the Blue Devils. Lemmerman also contributed a two-out RBI single in the inning, which was extended due to a two-out fielding error by Longwood third baseman Phil Cerreto.

Currier kept dealing in the sixth and seventh before finally giving up his first run in the top of the eighth. The run came on an RBI single by Ellis, who drove in Jones from third base after the Lancer second baseman reached third base with a one-out triple.

Duke quickly took back the run and picked up two more in the bottom half of the eighth, however, after stringing together three hits and three walks, including consecutive RBI walks to Saade and McCurdy. Jeremy Gould also drove in a run with an RBI single in the inning, giving him 36 batted in on the season. All of the damage in the eighth was done against Longwood reliever Paul Heidler, who entered the game in the top of the inning and gave up the three runs, all of which were earned.

Ahead 10-3 heading into the top of the ninth, Duke turned to Causey to get the final three outs. The senior right hander forced a flyout from his first batter before giving up a single to Cerreto, but immediately rolled a double play ground ball to his middle infielders to end the game.

Duke will continue its six-game week on Tuesday, May 6, with a single contest against Davidson at 7 p.m. at Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils overcame the Wildcats 8-7 in their last meeting and will have a chance to complete the two-game sweep on Tuesday. Duke and Davidson have yet to name starting pitchers for Tuesday's game.

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