Duke Comeback Falls Short In 11-6 Loss To Boston College

Sunday, April 6

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Duke Comeback Falls Short In 11-6 Loss To Boston College

4/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. ? Eric Campbell and Mickey Wiswall accounted for eight Boston College runs to lead the Eagles to an 11-6 win over Duke in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond.

Campbell and Wiswall each drove in a pair of runs and scored twice for Boston College (16-14, 5-10 ACC) to lead an Eagle offense that pounded 13 hits on a cold and rainy day in Chestnut Hill. They backed solid five innings from starter James MacDonald (3-4), who held Duke (21-10, 4-10 ACC) to four hits and one unearned run to pick up the win.

Duke trailed 8-1 heading into the sixth inning, but strung together a pair of two-run frames in the sixth and seventh to come within three runs at 8-5. The Blue Devils had the opportunity to tie the ballgame with a pair of runners on base with two outs in the seventh, but Boston College center fielder Marc Perdios tracked down a hard-hit line drive to deep center field by Jonathan Nicolla to end the scoring threat. Ted Ratliff and Michael Belfiore then teamed up to close out the final two innings, with Belfiore going two full frames to pick up the save.

Duke's offensive production came largely off the bat of sophomore left fielder Jeremy Gould, who recorded his second career four-hit outing, going 4-for-5 with two RBI on the day. Freshman shortstop Jake Lemmerman also collected a pair of hits and an RBI, while Nicolla and Alex Hassan also batted in one run each. Lemmerman's two hits, one of which was a double, put him at an even .500 (5-for-10) for the three-game series.

Sophomore second baseman Gabriel Saade moved back into the leadoff spot for Duke on Sunday and scored twice on a single and a pair of walks while picking up his 12th stolen base of the season. Fellow infielder Ryan McCurdy also scored a run after reaching base twice with a single and a walk

Freshman starter Grant Monroe (4-2) took the loss for Duke after giving up seven earned runs and one unearned on 10 hits over 4.2 innings. The loss ended a run of quality starts for the Schaumburg, Ill., native, who had previously defeated No. 16 Virginia and No. 17 Georgia Tech in consecutive weekends. Junior Kyle Butler took over for the final three innings, holding the Eagles scoreless in the sixth and seventh before they finally got to him for a three-run eighth to go on top 11-5.

Saade sparked a first-inning lead for Duke after battling back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk in the leadoff spot. He then took a big lead at first and drew several throws from MacDonald, one of which got by Belfiore at first base to allow him to advance to second. Belfiore attempted to throw him out at second base on the play after tracking down the ball, but skipped his throw in front of the bag to send it rolling into left field. Saade quickly popped up after sliding into second base and hustled over to third where he dove in safely. Hassan then ripped a grounder to shortstop to send Saade across the plate before MacDonald settled down to pick up two more outs and end the inning.

Meanwhile, Monroe got off to an impressive start, striking out his first two batters on the way to retiring the side in order in the first. He came out in the same fashion in the bottom of the second and sat down the first two Eagle hitters before Garret Smith and Sam Shaugnessy strung together back-to-back bloop singles that dropped into the outfield for base hits. Monroe kept dealing though, and forced Spatola to fly out to right to end the inning unharmed.

On the other end, MacDonald struggled with a high pitch count, racking up 84 pitches before the start of the fourth inning. He still managed to get the job done, however, as he escaped a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the third by inducing a ground ball to his second baseman to end the inning with a manageable 1-0 deficit still intact.

While Monroe was efficient through his first two innings, Boston College got to the freshman right-hander in the bottom of the third, pounding five hits en route to a five-run inning that put the Eagles ahead 5-1. Butera got the rally started with a double to right-center that just escaped the grasp of a diving Hassan in center. The two-bagger was quickly followed by a Duke fielding error on a ground ball that allowed Butera to score while extending the inning with one out still on the board. Sanchez then put runners at the corners with a single up the middle before Boston College followed with three consecutive RBI doubles, including a two-run drive by Wiswall. Monroe finally stopped the bleeding by forcing a pair of groundouts to end the inning.

Monroe regained his form in the fourth, however, and retired the side in order. He displayed his athleticism in picking up the final out after knocking down a line drive back to the mound before recovering and chasing the ball down just in time to throw out Belfiore at first base.

The three-up, three-down fourth did little to stop Boston College's momentum, however, as the Eagles scored three more in the fifth inning after stringing together a pair of back-to-back two-out triples. The base-clearing three-baggers came from Shaugnessy and John Spatola, with Shaugnessy's sending in a pair of runners. Following Spatola's triple, Duke called on Butler to end the inning, and the junior right-hander came through by forcing a groundout to Lemmerman at shortstop to strand Spatola at third.

The Blue Devils showed that they still had some fight in the bottom of the sixth, as Nicolla and Lemmerman strung together consecutive two-out hits to drive in a pair of runs and cut the deficit to 8-3. After McCurdy started the rally with a single, Nicolla bombed an RBI double to the right field corner as part of a well-executed hit-and-run that sent in McCurdy all the way from first base. Lemmerman then followed with a line drive single down the right field line to score Nicolla from second. With Lemmerman on first and two outs on the board, Sherlock threatened to keep the inning alive after mashing a 3-1 fastball to right field, but Spatola was perfectly positioned to snag the hard-hit line drive and kill the Blue Devil rally.

Duke continued to plug away at the 8-3 deficit, however, and scored two more in the seventh to come within three runs of tying the game. Leadoff singles from Saade and Hassan set the table for Gould, who mashed the first pitch he saw to the gap in left-center for a two-run double. The clutch two-bagger prompted Boston College to make a pitching change, sending Ted Ratliff to the mound to get out of the jam with Gould on second and one out. He retired his first batter, but could not throw the final pitch past Kreick, who fouled off four balls while seeing 10 total pitches on the way to drawing a two-out walk to send Nicolla to the plate as the tying run. Nicolla forced Ratliff into a full count before smoking the payoff pitch to deep center field. Perdios got on his horse, however, and was able to snag the line drive in stride to end the scoring threat with a three-run lead still in hand

Butler followed with a scoreless seventh to keep the score manageable at 8-5 heading into the eighth inning. Boston College then sent hard-throwing right-hander Kurt Hayer to the hill in an attempt to keep the heart of Duke's lineup from reaching the plate in the inning. Hayer struggled with his control though and issued a leadoff walk to Lemmerman before being yanked after tossing two more balls to Sherlock. Boston College called on Belfiore to follow Hayer, which proved to be the right move as the two-way Eagle retired the next three hitters to get out of the inning unharmed.

After stifling several potential game-tying rallies, Boston College's offense made the possibility of a Duke comeback even more difficult by putting up three runs in the bottom half of the eighth to run the score to 11-5. After loading the bases on hits from Spatola and Perdios and an intentional walk to Barry Butera, Belfiore took a pitch off his leg to turn the wheel and score Spatola. Sanchez then followed with an RBI single to left field before Campbell drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly ball to deep center field.

Duke threatened to get something going in the top of the ninth after Gould ripped a single to follow a leadoff walk taken by Matt Williams, but Belfiore limited the damage to one run before ending the game with consecutive groundouts. Duke's lone run in the inning scored when Belfiore failed to fully come set, resulting in a balk that sent in Williams from third base.

Duke will return home to Jack Coombs Field briefly for a non-conference bout with UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils will then hit the road for the second straight weekend, traveling to Raleigh, N.C., for a three-game set against N.C. State.