Duke Rallies for 10th Inning Victory at Pitt

Thursday, May 19

Pittsburgh, Pa.

6:00 PM

Duke University

Pittsburgh

Duke Rallies for 10th Inning Victory at Pitt

5/19/2016 10:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score (PDF)

By: Duke Sports Information

PITTSBURGH – Down to its final out, Duke rallied for runs in the ninth and 10th innings to defeat Pitt, 2-1, in the series opener Thursday evening at Charles L. Leblanc Field.

Sophomore Peter Zyla laced the game-tying RBI single with two outs in the ninth and classmate Justin Bellinger knocked a RBI single in the 10th to propel Duke (32-21, 13-15 ACC) to victory. Freshman Al Pesto (2-0) recorded the final five outs and sophomore Evan Dougherty made an outstanding sliding grab in center for the final out with a runner on second.

The day started as a pitchers' duel between Pitt starter T.J. Zeuch and Duke's Kellen Urbon. The two right-handers went toe-to-toe with each permitting one run.

Zeuch totaled a career-high 12 strikeouts in the no decision. He scattered seven hits and kept the Blue Devils off the board until the ninth. Urbon yielded one run on a Nick Yarnall seventh-inning solo homer. He did not allow a Pitt runner to reach scoring position until the seventh and gave up five hits overall.

“Kellen pitched an unbelievable game,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “That was two guys going toe-to-toe on the mound. Kellen didn't back down. One thing that can't be underestimated is the job he did after giving up the home run to get five out behind it was spectacular.”

Duke had its chances over the fourth and fifth frames, stranding three runners between the two innings. Jack Labosky and Justin Bellinger both singled in the fourth, but Zeuch registered back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat. In the fifth, Zack Kone beat out an infield single before the Pitt (25-25, 10-17 ACC) defense made two straight solid plays to keep a run off the board.

After a 6-4-3 double play ended the Duke seventh, Yarnall swatted Urbon's 1-0 offering over the right field wall for his 11th home run of the season.

The 1-0 Pitt lead stood until the ninth. Zeuch walked Laboksy to lead off the ninth before fanning the next two batters. Down to its last out, Duke received singles from Cris Perez and Zyla. Zyla sliced a RBI base knock the opposite way to score pinch runner Kennie Taylor from second and tie the game, 1-1.

“Great job by Cristian Perez sitting first-pitch breaking ball,” Pollard added. “Did a good job of driving it. Pete [Zyla] had great at bats Sunday against Florida State and he carried that over to today. Did a great job of being ready to hit. When Pete's on, he's going to hit a lot of hard ground balls like that and hit the ball to all fields. He did that tonight.”

Charles LeBlanc seemed to have a leadoff double in the ninth, but failed to touch first and was called out on the appeal to first. The Panthers then loaded the bases on two walks and a single before Pesto entered the game. Duke's freshman right-hander proceeded to strike out two straight batters to escape the jam.

“Really incredible performance,” Pollard said. “Just a great job competing. Al's been pitching great recently. To come in the spot he was and have to get us off the field. To produce the two strikeouts, was just special. Just an unbelievable example of a guy picking up a teammate.”

With two outs in the 10th, Chris Proctor legged out an infield single and advanced to second on a Pitt throwing error. After Ryan Day walked, Bellinger sent a base hit up the middle to score what proved to be the game-winning run.

“Our guys started in the later innings to sit on curveball,” Pollard said. “Justin did it there and drove it back up the middle. Didn't try to do too much with it. Really good piece of hitting.”

Pesto returned in the 10th and allowed a leadoff infield single before getting two fly balls and a ground out to secure the win.

Duke and Pitt return to Charles L. Cost Field Friday, May 20 at 6 p.m., for the second game of the three-game set.

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