Duke Falls 6-3 At Liberty

Tuesday, March 10

Lynchburg, Va.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Liberty

3/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

LYNCHBURG, Va. ? Erroll Hollinger and Curran Redal each mashed two-run homers in consecutive innings to lead Liberty to a 6-3 win over Duke Tuesday afternoon at Worthington Stadium.

Redal's bomb came in the third inning and put the Flames (8-3) on top 2-1, and Hollinger came through with another two-run blast in the fourth to erase a 3-2 deficit and put Liberty ahead for the remainder of the game. Their combined four RBI were just enough for Liberty starter Andrew Wilson (2-1), who went 7.1 innings and held Duke to three runs, and Steven Evans, who finished the final 1.2 innings to earn the save.

Duke (8-4, 2-1 ACC) knocked out 12 hits, all of which were off of Wilson, but stranded 10 base runners in the game. The Blue Devils got a solo home run from catcher Matt Williams and one RBI each from leadoff man Gabriel Saade and cleanup hitter Jeremy Gould. Williams' blast was his first home run since his freshman year and one of two hits for him in the game. Saade, meanwhile, went 3-for-5 from the top of Duke's lineup, scoring a run and sending in another with a two-out double.

Duke starter Jonathan Foreman (0-1) took the loss after the Flames tagged him for five runs on six hits in 5.0 complete innings. Foreman struck out five batters, which was one shy of tying his career high. Junior right-hander Will Currier took over for Foreman to start the sixth and held Liberty to one run on three hits over the final three innings.

Duke's defense was one of the game's highlights, as the Blue Devils did not commit a single error while making several diving stops in the field. Third baseman Ryan McCurdy saved his pitchers two hits and several runs with a pair of diving grabs at the hot corner, while Saade also laid out and took away a hit at second base and Will Piwnica-Worms saved at least two runs from scoring with a diving catch in the left-field gap. Piwnica-Worms also had two hits on the day, as did fellow freshman Eric Pfisterer.

Wilson came out firing strikes in the first inning, putting 15 of his first 20 pitches in the zone. Duke took advantage though, and tagged three hits off the right-hander on the way to a 1-0 lead. Saade started the inning with a single up the middle, welcoming Wilson to the game by ripping his first back right back at him. He moved over to third on an ensuing base hit to right by Nate Freiman and scored on the next at bat when Gould drove a two-strike sacrifice fly to right field.

Foreman, meanwhile, cruised through Liberty's lineup the first time through, giving up just one hit to the first nine Flame batters. He ran into some trouble during the second go-round though, when Redal launched a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the third to put Liberty ahead 2-1. Redal's long ball stayed just inside the foul pole down the right field line and scored P.J. Jiminez after he reached with a base hit.

Liberty's lead did not last long, however, as Duke responded to Redal's two-run bomb with a solo shot from Williams and a two-out RBI double by Saade that put the Blue Devils back on top 3-2. It was the first home run of the season for Williams, who took Wilson's 0-1 offering and deposited it over the fence in the right field power alley to tie the game. The inning also featured another first for freshman designated hitter Eric Pfisterer, who slapped his first career single to the right side to move Piwnica-Worms over to third base after he also reached on a single. With runners at the corners after Pfisterer's base knock, Saade stepped in and roped a two-out double to left field to send in Piwnica-Worms and regain Duke's lead.

But the home run derby continued into the bottom half of the fourth when Hollinger mashed his team-leading fourth homer of the season to put Liberty back on top 4-3. The two-run blast followed a leadoff double by Doug Bream, which was just Liberty's third hit of the game.

Duke had a chance to at least re-tie the game in the top of the fifth, but stranded two men in scoring position after Gould ripped a one-out double for his first hit of the game. Williams then reached with a walk, but was forced out at second on an ensuing ground ball by Lemmerman. Lemmerman beat the throw to first base to foil the double play and then put himself in scoring position by stealing second for his second swipe of the season. But Wilson was able to get himself out of the jam by striking out Piwnica-Worms with a 3-2 slider that bent off the outside part of the plate.

Bream ripped another double in the fifth inning, but this time it came with Redal on second base and sent him across the plate to run Liberty's lead to 5-3. Saade saved another run from scoring in the inning by making a diving stop to his glove side on a hard-hit ground ball to the right side by designated hitter Cody Brown. Saade ranged to his left, gloved the ball and popped up just in time to get it off to first base for the final out of the inning.

Duke once again had an opportunity to take back one of the runs in the top of the sixth, but came out on the wrong end of a rally-killing double play. Pfisterer and Saade got the rally started with consecutive singles to give Duke runners at first and second with one out, but Wilson forced Duke two-hitter Alex Hassan to roll a ground ball to shortstop that set up the Flames for a perfect double play. It was just the sixth time all season that an opponent turned a double play against Duke and the first time since High Point turned two on March 5.

Currier took over for Foreman in the bottom of the sixth and opened his outing by retiring the side in order on 10 pitches. McCurdy helped him get the first out by making a diving grab on a line drive to his glove side off Hollinger's bat to third base. Hollinger smoked the liner on a 2-2 count, but McCurdy was quick enough to leap to his left and snag the ball in mid-air.

Wilson continued to shut down Duke's lineup, sitting down Duke's 3-4-5 hitters in order in the seventh. The three-up, three-down inning marked Wilson's third straight scoreless inning and the second time in the game that he retired the Blue Devils in order.

The Blue Devils' defense continued to bail them out in the bottom of the seventh to hold the 5-3 deficit in check. Williams erased a one-out single in the inning by throwing out Liberty shortstop Matt Williams when he tried to steal second base, giving him three runners caught stealing this season. Piwnica-Worms then did his part by running down a fly ball in the left field gap and diving to make the catch in mid-air, ending the inning and stranding two runners on base in the process.

Liberty returned the favor in the top of the eighth, however, using a double play to erase a first-and-second, one-out situation for the Blue Devils. Lemmerman led off the inning with a base hit through the left side and moved up to second following a walk to McCurdy. The free pass prompted Liberty to bring in Evans to face Pfisterer, with the looming threat of Duke's top of the lineup waiting on deck. Evans inherited runners at first and second with one out on the board and needed just two pitches to force Pfisterer to slap a ground ball up the middle which Williams fielded and stepped on second before firing to first base to shut down Duke's rally and end the inning.

Liberty kept hitting the ball in the eighth and tacked on another run on a base hit from Tyler Bream that scored Trey Wimmer all the way from first base. Once again, however, Duke's defense limited the damage thanks to another diving stop made by McCurdy. With Bream at second base after he advanced on the throw to the plate after his single, Jiminez ripped a ground ball down the third base line that would easily have sent Bream across the plate had it rolled into the outfield. But McCurdy took a step to his right and dove across the bag to not only keep the ball in the infield, but field it cleanly and pop up in time to fire across the infield to get the runner at first base for the final out.

Trailing 6-3 and down to their final three outs, the Blue Devils sent their top of the lineup to the plate, but Evans sat down three of Duke's next four batters to end the game and pick up the save. Hassan drew a walk to become Duke's only base runner in the inning, but got no further than first base as Evans forced a ground ball that the Flames fielded to force him out at second base and end the game.

Duke will continue its non-conference mid-week slate on Wednesday, March 11, back home with a 3 p.m. meeting against Quinnipiac at Jack Coombs Field. Duke is expected to put freshman right-hander Trevor Cesar (0-1, 6.75 ERA) on the mound, while Quinnipiac has not named a starter.

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