No. 6 Duke's Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short on Saturday

Saturday, April 27

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

29-14, 13-10

Florida State

34-8, 13-7

Florida State

Duke

No. 6 Duke's Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short on Saturday

4/27/2024 8:24:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)

DURHAM – No. 6 Duke (29-14, 13-10 ACC) had the tying and winning runs in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth, before lining out to second base to fall to No. 10 Florida State (34-8, 13-7 ACC), 7-6, at Jack Coombs Field.

Florida State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the three and a half frames, before Devin Obee hit a two-run home run to left center field to tie the ballgame. The Noles regained and extended their lead in the fifth and sixth innings, 7-2.

In the bottom of the eighth, Obee reached on a fielder's choice to score AJ Gracia from third and cut the lead to 7-3. Later in the frame, Chase Krewson singled through the left side to score a pair of Blue Devils to cut the Seminoles lead to two.

Ben Miller led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo home run to left center field, before Gracia drew a walk and Alex Stone was hit by a pitch to put the winning run on. The Blue Devils were unable to push the tying run across, as Wallace Clark laced a line drive to second base that was snagged to end the ballgame.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Florida State opened the scoring in the top of the third inning, 1-0.
The Seminoles added to the lead in the top of the fourth inning, 2-0.
Devin Obee hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, 2-2.
Florida State regained the lead in the top of the fifth, 5-2.
The Seminoles added a pair in the top of the sixth inning, 7-2.
Obee reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the eighth inning to score AJ Gracia from third. Chase Krewson singled through the left side to score a pair, 7-5.
Ben Miller hit a solo home run to left center field in the bottom of the ninth inning, 7-6.

NOTES

Junior Devin Obee collected his 10th home run of the season, a two-run shot to tie the ballgame in the bottom of the fourth inning, to push the Blue Devils number of players with double-digit home runs to five. Obee finished the day 1-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI.
Junior Wallace Clark was hit by his 18th pitch this season, moving him into solo fifth on the single-season list. He now trails Alex Mooney for fourth most in a single season by one at 19. Clark finished the day 2-for-4, tallying his eighth multi-hit contest of the season.
Graduate Ben Miller hit his team leading 12th home run of the season, a solo shot to bring the Blue Devils to within one to lead off the ninth inning. Miller is one of five Blue Devils with double-digit home runs this season.
Freshman Kyle Johnson dropped his first decision of the season on Saturday, working five innings of six-hit baseball and allowing five runs. He struck out four Seminoles on the day.
Freshman AJ Gracia and senior Alex Stone joined Clark as the three Blue Devils to record multi-hit days. Gracia and Stone tallied their 15th multi-hit contest of the season against Florida State on Saturday.

QUOTES

"Another great ballgame tonight. We were two pitches away there in the fifth and sixth inning. We had two-outs and two-strikes in those frames, and they came up with the big hit. To state the obvious those five runs were the difference in the ballgame. I thought we did a lot of things really well and we competed like crazy once again to get ourselves back in it. We hit a line drive at somebody to end the ballgame and that is twice in two games that it has happened." – Head coach Chris Pollard on his overall thoughts on the ballgame.

UP NEXT

Duke and Florida State conclude the three-game series on Sunday afternoon from Jack Coombs Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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