Virginia Tech Downs Duke 19-4 In ACC Opener

Friday, March 6

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech Downs Duke 19-4 In ACC Opener

3/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Ty Hohman went 5-for-7 with a double, a triple and six RBI to lead Virginia Tech to a 19-4 win over Duke Friday evening in the ACC opener for both teams at Jack Coombs Field.

Hohman hit in the five-spot for the Hokies and was part of a top half of the Virginia Tech lineup that combined to go 16-for-25 with 13 of Virginia Tech's 15 RBI. Leadoff man Klint Reed went 3-for-5 with four runs and two RBI, two-hitter Steve Domecus finished 4-for-5 with four runs and two RBI, and designated hitter Austin Wates finished 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.

Rhett Ballard (3-0) got the win for Virginia Tech (9-1, 1-0 ACC) after tossing five complete innings and holding Duke to two runs on four hits. Relievers Clark Labitan, Ben Rowen, Ronnie Shaban and Kyle Cichy held the Blue Devils to two runs and six hits over the remaining four innings.

The game was within reach at 6-2 for Duke (6-3, 0-1 ACC) until the eighth inning when the Hokies put up 10 runs after sending 15 batters to the plate. Virginia Tech had 10 of its 19 hits in that frame, including three of its seven extra-base knocks.

Duke had three batters with two hits each, including Gabriel Saade (2-for-5), Alex Hassan (2-for-4) and Nate Freiman (2-for-3), but stranded 13 base runners for the game. Freiman reached base in four of his five plate appearances, drawing two walks, while Hassan, Gould, Matt Williams and Jake Lemmerman each added one RBI apiece.

Blue Devil starter Christopher Manno (1-2) lasted into the fifth inning, but was pulled with two outs and two men on with Duke trailing 3-2. Both runners eventually scored, giving the junior southpaw five earned runs allowed in 4.2 innings. Manno threw 98 pitches in the game, walking three and striking out two.

Manno cruised through his first two innings, holding the Hokies scoreless on two hits. He used just 10 pitches in the first inning, but ran into control issues in the top of the second. He gave up a leadoff single to Hohman and a walk to Marc Zecchino, but rebounded to get the next three batters to escape the inning unharmed.

Ballard was just as effective in his first two frames, however, and sat down six of Duke's first seven batters. Ballard used just 28 pitches in the first two innings, 19 of which came in for strikes. His only blemish was a 3-1 offering to Hassan that plunked the Duke two-hitter in the leg.

The Hokies got to Manno in the top of the third inning and scored two runs on a bases-loaded single by Hohman. Manno limited the damage to just two runs, however, despite allowing four base runners. Reed led off the inning with a two-strike double to right field, taking a breaking ball on the outside corner and dropping it just inside of the right field foul line. Domecus then stepped to the plate and took a pitch in the back to put runners at first and second, bringing up Wates, who doubled in the first inning. Wates battled Manno in the at bat, fouling off six pitches, but eventually lost chasing a high fastball for the strikeout. Duke was not out of the jam though, as Manno followed by walking cleanup hitter Sosnoskie to load the bases for Hohman, who ripped 2-2 offering into left field to send in Reed and Domecus. But Manno was able to put the two-run knock behind him and retire the next two batters to strand two runners in scoring position.

Duke's offense responded by getting back both runs after mounting a two-out rally that included consecutive base hits from Hassan and Gould and an RBI walk drawn by Williams. Ballard ran into some control issues of his own in the inning and handed out three free passes, the first of which came when he plunked Ryan McCurdy to give Duke its first base runner. After Ballard retired Saade for Duke's second out of the inning, Hassan stepped to the plate and slipped a seeing-eye single through the left side to put runners on first and second for Gould, who sent in Hassan from second with a line drive single back up the middle. Gould's base knock left runners at first and second once again for Duke's cleanup hitter Freiman, and Ballard proceeded to put him on base with a walk. With the bases load and two outs on the board, Williams stepped into the box and took five pitches en route to an RBI walk, which would be Duke's final run of the inning.

Virginia Tech quickly broke the tie in their next series, putting up another run in the top of the fourth to go ahead 3-2. But the Hokies once again stranded runners in scoring position, as Manno got out of a bases-loaded jam with one out by forcing consecutive flyouts to Will Piwnica-Worms in center field. After Reed sent in Virginia Tech's only run with a double ? his second in as many at bats ? the Hokies loaded the bases with an ensuing hit-by-pitch from Domecus and a bunt single from Wates. But Manno kept his composure and got some help from Piwnica-Worms to end the threat, as Duke's freshman center fielder chased down a fly ball with one out and gunned it into the infield to keep all three runners at bay. He helped end the inning as well by chasing down a high fly ball in right-center field and gloving it for the third out.

Manno came out and sat down his first two batters in the fourth inning, striking out one for his 99th career punchout, but he could not finish the inning as Virginia Tech scored three runs with two outs to go ahead 6-2. After the strikeout, Manno lost the strike zone against Mike Kaminski and walked him on full count before grazing nine-hitter Tony Balisteri's jersey with a fastball to put two runners on base. That brought up Virginia Tech's leadoff man Reed, who had doubled in his previous two at bats. Duke head coach Sean McNally made the call to the bullpen to bring in Ness, who had no more success against Reed than Manno did as the Hokie center fielder proceeded to slap a base knock up the middle to send in another run. Two-hitter Domecus then slapped a ground ball down the first base line that Freiman was able to knock down with a diving stop, but could do little else with as Domecus beat his throw to the bag. That single loaded the bases for Wates, who slapped his third hit of the game into left field to send in two more runs. Wates' base knock would be Virginia Tech's last of the game though, as Ness rebounded to strike out cleanup hitter Anthony Sosnoskie after he fell behind 3-0 in the count.

Ballard followed by sitting down three of Duke's next four hitters to take the game into the sixth inning. Freiman's base knock up the middle was the only hit Ballard allowed that inning, which would be his last of the game. Labitan took over in the bottom half of the sixth for the Hokies and got called strikeouts on each of the first two batters he faced. He then took McCurdy into a full count and hit him on the hand with an inside pitch, giving him his second free pass on a hit by pitch of the afternoon. Duke seemed on the verge of starting another two-out rally after that, as Saade followed by beating out an infield single, but Labitan managed to roll another ground ball that his third baseman Michael Seaborn fielded and converted into an out.

Ness, meanwhile, stayed on the mound through the fifth and sixth and retired the side in each inning. He picked up three strikeouts during that span, including two called in the sixth, giving him four for the game. Of Ness' 41 pitches in those three innings, 26 came in for strikes.

Labitan stayed on in the seventh and got Duke's first batter to ground out, but gave up consecutive singles to Freiman and Williams and a groundout to Duke freshman Eric Pfisterer that pushed both runners into scoring position. That prompted the Hokies to bring in the right-handed Rowen, who got out of the jam by forcing Lemmerman to fly out hard to center field.

Duke made another pitching change in the eighth, sending junior Will Currier to the mound at the start of the inning to take over for Ness, who held the Hokies hitless in the sixth and seventh. Virginia Tech jumped on Currier right away, as Domecus tagged a base hit to left field and scored five pitches later on a triple to the right-field gap by Wates. Wates' triple sent in the first of 10 runs in the inning for Virginia Tech, who took a 16-2 lead after the rally. A two-run double by Hohman would send in two more runs before a two-run single from Balisteri ran the score to 11-2. Duke then sent freshman Ben Grisz to the mound in place of Currier, but Virginia Tech jumped on Grisz as well, putting three more on the board without hitting into an out. Hohman drove in two more with a triple, giving him four RBI and two extra-base hits in the inning. Duke had to make another change in the inning, putting freshman David Putman on the bump to inherit a bases-loaded, two-out situation. Putman was able to finally stop the bleeding by striking out Steve Bumbry.

Despite the scoring outburst, the top of Duke's lineup was not ready to throw in the towel. Saade slapped a two-out single to right field and scored all the way from first base on an ensuing double to left field by Hassan. The double was the team-leading seventh extra-base hit of the season for Hassan and gave him multiple hits in the fifth straight game.

The Hokies put up three more runs in the ninth to run their lead to 19-3 before allowing Kyle Cichy to take the ball in the final inning. Freiman led off for Duke and drew a walk to reach base for the fourth straight time. Senior Marcus Jones then stepped in as a pinch hitter and rapped out his first career hit in the bottom in just his second career plate appearance. His base knock moved pinch runner Trevor Cesar over to third where he would score from on the next at bat when Lemmerman mashed a sacrifice fly ball to deep center field. That would be Duke's final run, however as Cichy ended the game with a strikeout.

Duke will have a chance to even the series on Saturday, March 7, in the 2 p.m. game between the teams. Duke will send senior right-hander Andrew Wolcott (2-0, 1.29 ERA) the mound opposite Virginia Tech starter Justin Wright (1-0, 4.91 ERA).

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