Duke Falls 10-2 At High Point

Thursday, March 5

High Point, N.C.

4:00 PM

Duke University

High Point

Duke Falls 10-2 At High Point

3/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

HIGH POINT, N.C. ? Bill Manion and Kyle Mahoney each homered and drove in four RBI to lead High Point to a 10-2 win over Duke Thursday afternoon at Coy O. Williard, Sr., Stadium.

Mahoney's bomb was a go-ahead solo shot in the first inning, while Manion's was a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth that put High Point (4-3) ahead 10-1. Panthers starter Mike Caldwell (2-1) held Duke to one run on six hits through seven complete innings and shut down the Blue Devils (6-2, 0-0 ACC) for six straight scoreless innings.

Duke's RBI came from junior designated hitter Jeremy Gould, who knocked a pair of singles, and third baseman Ryan McCurdy, who slapped an RBI infield single with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Junior outfielder Alex Hassan also logged a pair of hits for his third straight multi-hit game and raised his batting average to .484 for the season. Senior first baseman Nate Freiman also reached base twice with a single and his fifth walk of the season.

Duke freshman Trevor Cesar (0-1) took the loss in his first career start after giving up three runs and four hits through four complete innings. Cesar threw 64 pitches, walked two and struck out three High Point batters.

It took the Blue Devils just three at bats to score their first run, as Hassan belted a double ? his team-leading sixth extra-base hit of the season ? and scored two pitches later on a single by Gould. Caldwell then followed by walking Freiman on five pitches, but settled down to get two straight outs to escape the jam and limit the damage to one run.

High Point did not trail for long, however, scoring twice in the first inning to jump ahead 2-1. The Panthers tagged three hits in the frame, including the solo home run by Mahoney. High Point leadoff man Pablo Rosario led the inning off with a single back up the middle and moved over to third on the next at bat when Alfie Wheeler ripped another base hit to right field. With runners at the corners and no outs, Cesar kept his cool and faked a pickoff to third base, only to turn around and fire over to first to catch Wheeler off the bag. After a brief rundown, Wheeler was tagged out for the first out of the inning. High Point still managed to get the run in from third base, however, when Manion slapped a ground ball to the right side that the Blue Devils fielded for an out. With the bases cleared and two outs, Mahoney was able to squeak one more run out of the inning with a solo shot that cleared the fence in the left field alley.

Duke shortstop Jake Lemmerman led off the second inning with a single for Duke and stole second for the first time this season, but got no further as Caldwell retired Duke's next three batters to escape another jam. Cesar, meanwhile, got into a jam of his own in the bottom of the second, but struck out two straight batters to strand a Panther base runner on third base. Eric Marion was left standing 90 feet from the plate after Cesar's two punchouts erased his leadoff single.

Caldwell returned the favor to Duke in the next half-inning though, stranding Hassan on third base after the Blue Devil two-hitter drew a walk to lead off the inning. Gould followed Hassan's walk with his second base hit of the game, but was promptly sent back to the dugout when Caldwell induced a double-play ground ball. Hassan moved over to third on the double play, but Caldwell forced Duke catcher Matt Williams to fly out to right field to end the inning.

High Point played small ball in the next half inning and managed to put another runner on third, but this time got him in on a sacrifice fly to take a 3-1 lead. Mahoney sent in the run with a deep fly ball to center field for his second RBI in as many at bats, scoring Wheeler who led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Manion. Cesar did not let the run affect his next inning though, as he sat down three of the next four High Point hitters in the fourth, striking out one for his third punchout of the game.

After Caldwell held Duke scoreless in the fourth and fifth, however, Cesar handed the ball over to classmate Eric Pfisterer heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. Pfisterer and the Duke defense had to deal with three straight bunts from the Panthers to lead off the inning, the first of which came off Rosario's bat and rolled to second base for a hit. The next bunt was a sacrifice attempt to first base that Freiman foiled after fielding the roller in the grass and firing to second just in time to get the lead runner. The second sacrifice attempt actually worked, pushing Wheeler over to second in exchange for handing Duke the second out of the inning. The Blue Devils got the third out on their own, however, when Wheeler was thrown out at third by Williams while trying to steal the base.

Caldwell came out in the sixth and shut down the Blue Devils again, maintaining the 3-1 lead and a five-inning scoreless streak. The Panthers gave Caldwell another run in their next offensive series to run the lead to 4-1. Cleanup hitter Billy Alvino started the rally with a double down the right field line, and following a wild pitch that moved him to third, scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Cowan. Hassan gloved Cowan's fly ball in deep right field and came up firing to the plate. His throw was on line and in time, but short-hopped Williams at the plate and bounced off his chest protector to allow Cowan to slide in safely.

Pfisterer lasted into the seventh inning, but gave way to senior right-hander Kyle Butler after hitting a batter and dishing out a walk to start the inning. Butler could not stifle the Panthers' offense though, as High Point knocked out three straight singles to send in three runs before Duke got out of the inning. Manion started the rally with a bunt single to the left side that Butler fielded, but could do little with the roller other than flip to third base to try for the force out. Rosario beat the throw, however, loading the bases for Mahoney, who laced a two-run base hit to right-center field. Mahoney's single put runners at the corners for Alvino, who came through with a seeing-eye single through the left side that gave High Point its final run of the inning and a 7-1 lead.

After a seven-inning, one-run performance from Caldwell, Panthers reliever Zach Scott took over on the mound for High Point and retired the first two batters he faced. He gave up a first-pitch, two-out single to Freiman, but fanned the next batter to end the inning. The base knock was the 10th of the season for Freiman, who extended his hitting streak to three games.

Duke made another pitching change in the eighth, sending sophomore John Bunder to the mound in his first appearance of the season. Rosario welcomed Bunder to the 2009 season with a triple to the right field gap for his third hit of the game, and Manion followed two batters later with a three-run homer off the scoreboard in right field. Manion's long ball pushed High Point's lead to 10-1 and gave the Panthers their second straight three-run inning.

Panthers closer Jeremy Berg took the mound in the ninth, needing to get High Point three more outs to lock up the win. He started out by walking Saade, but eventually settled down to get what should have been the final three outs. High Point third baseman Marion bobbled a routine ground ball, however, to give Duke an extra out. That error turned out to be costly, as McCurdy eventually stepped to the plate with two outs and sent in Duke's final run with an infield single to the left side. That would be Duke's last shot as tying the game, however, as Berg sat down Hassan on a groundout to end the game.

Duke will now open ACC play with a three-game home series against Virginia Tech on Friday through Sunday, March 6-8, at Jack Coombs Field. Duke has taken two of three from the Hokies and will have an opportunity to keep that streak alive, beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. Game two is slated for 2 p.m., while the series will wrap up with the 1 p.m. finale on Sunday.

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