Stroman Leads Duke Past North Carolina A&T 14-7

Monday, May 10

Greensboro, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

North Carolina A&T

Stroman Leads Duke Past North Carolina A&T 14-7

5/10/2010 10:00:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Marcus Stroman matched a career high with three RBI and pitched two perfect innings to lead Duke to a 14-7 win over North Carolina A&T on Monday evening at War Memorial Stadium.

Stroman (6-2) started the game and struck out three of the six batters he faced to earn the win before finishing 2-for-4 at the plate. The two-way freshman reached base safely three times and also stole his ninth base of the season as Duke improved to 19-4 in non-conference play.

The Blue Devils (26-21, 7-17 ACC) pounded 14 hits while scoring their most runs since a 15-11 win over No. 11 North Carolina on March 13. Duke's three through seven hitters, led by five-hitter Dennis O'Grady's 3-for-6 performance, combined for nine hits. Every Duke batter recorded a hit in the game while five of them drove in an RBI.

Duke used four pitchers, beginning with Stroman's perfect first two innings. Eric Pfisterer threw three innings in relief in which he surrendered just one earned run on four hits. Senior Jonathan Foreman also contributed three innings out of the bullpen before Ben Grisz entered the game and closed out the ninth.

The Aggies (25-24) got a two-run homer and an RBI single from Xavier Maclin, but could not overcome six errors and Duke scored six unearned runs. North Carolina A&T starter Brian Moore took the loss after surrendering six runs - four earned - over 3.1 innings. Duke then went on to score eight runs - five earned - off of the Aggie bullpen.

Following two perfect innings from Stroman, Duke took advantage of a two-out Aggie fielding error and scored three unearned runs in the top of the third. The Blue Devils strung together three straight hits following the error, including an RBI double from cleanup hitter Jeremy Gould and RBI singles from Dennis O'Grady and Stroman.

The Blue Devils returned the favor in the bottom of the third, however, and committed an error that led to two unearned runs. Following the error, which left runners at the corners with no outs, James Howard dropped an RBI single into right-center field to trim Duke's lead to 3-1. After another run came across on a passed ball, right fielder Brian Litwin saved any further damage by foiling a sacrifice fly ball and instead turning it into a double play. With runners at second and third, one out and duke leading 3-2, Litwin caught a high fly ball in right field and then fired a strike to catcher Ryan Munger, who applied the tag nearly 15 feet up the third base line.

The Blue Devil bats went to work in the top of the sixth, however, and scored three more runs to jump ahead 6-3. Ryan Munger had the first of three straight hits to open the inning and was followed by consecutive doubles from Ryan McCurdy and Mike Carroll. Carroll then stole third and scored on an RBI groundout from Will Piwnica-Worms to cap the three-run rally.

Four more Duke runs in the seventh increased the lead to 10-3. Duke tagged five hits in that inning, including a two-run single from Stroman. The Aggies would get one more run in the bottom of the fourth, but were held scoreless over the next three innings. Foreman took over for Pfisterer in the fifth and rattled off two straight shutout frames before a two-run homer from Xavier Maclin in the eighth closed the gap to 10-5.

The Blue Devils scored four more in the top of the ninth, thanks to two more North Carolina A&T errors. Grisz then took over on the mound in the bottom f the ninth and surrendered an RBI double to Maclin and a sacrifice fly to Marquis Riley before closing out the win.

Duke continues its seven-game week with a double header on Tuesday, May 11, against Presbyterian at historic Durham Athletic Park. Duke will start right-hander Dennis O'Grady in game one against the Blue Hose and will follow with freshman Chase Bebout in game two.

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