Duke Falls 7-6 To Boston College In Extra Innings

Sunday, April 26

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Friday Series Opener Between Duke And NC State Postponed Until Saturday

Duke Falls 7-6 To Boston College In Extra Innings

4/26/2009 6:15:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Boston College hit five home runs, including two from Mike Sudol, before Robbie Anston drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th inning to give the Eagles a 7-6 win over Duke in the series finale Sunday evening at Jack Coombs Field.

The Eagles (26-17, 11-11 ACC) got their first six runs by way of the long ball with Sudol hitting two and Andrew Lawrence, Tony Sanchez and Mickey Wiswall each adding one. Duke, however, was able to keep up offensively and forced the game into extra innings, but fell behind on Anston's one-out sacrifice fly down the left field line in the top of the 11th inning.

Anston's RBI flyout came in the midst of a career-long 5.0-inning relief appearance for two-way first baseman Mike Belfiore, who gave up his only run on a pinch-hit, game-tying home run by Duke junior Will Currier in the bottom of the eighth inning. Belfiore entered the game in the seventh and blew a one-run lead, but then held Duke scoreless for the remainder of the game. He had to work through several jams, most notably in the 10th inning when Duke (29-17, 12-12 ACC) got a leadoff double from freshman Brian Litwin. Belfiore stranded Litwin on third base though, using intentional walks to Matt Williams and Nate Freiman to his advantage to get through the top of Duke's lineup just before the Eagles took the lead in the 11th.

Williams and Freiman earned their free passes in the 10th, as Williams entered that at bat with five hits in five at bats for the game. Freiman, meanwhile, crushed his second career grand slam to tie the game in the third inning. The five hits were a career high for Williams, while Freiman's homer was his third of the series and his ACC-leading 15th of the year.

Two-way outfielder Alex Hassan, making his first start since May 19, 2007, went four innings and struck out six for the Blue Devils, but gave up five earned runs on four hits, all of which were home runs. Duke then used the relief of duo Dennis O'Grady and Michael Ness (2-1), who held the Eagles to six hits and two runs over the remaining seven innings. Ness gave up the game-winner in the 11th, however, after giving up a leadoff single to Matt Hamlet and Anston's sacrifice fly.

Boston College jumped out to an early lead thanks to a two-out, two-run homer from Wiswall in the first inning. Hassan got through the first two Eagle hitters quickly with two groundouts, but then hit Sanchez on the hand with a 3-2 fastball. The hit batsman came back to hurt immediately, as Wiswall followed with a two-run shot over the 375-foot marker in right-center field.

Duke put its first two batters on base in the bottom of the first, but came away empty-handed when Dean induced three straight flyouts from Duke's three through five hitters. Saade started the inning with a walk and moved to second on a single back up the middle from Williams, but got no further than third after Dean recorded three straight outs.

Boston College's bats stayed hot in the top of the second when Sudol led off the inning with a solo shot to the same spot in right field. The long ball put the Eagles ahead 3-0 before Hassan settled in and struck out John Spatola for the first out and then got Brad Zapenas to line into a double play to end the inning.

Hassan flashed his breaking ball early in the third inning and struck out leadoff man Robbie Anston with the big hook, but then had a fastball hit over the right field wall by Lawrence Boston College's third home run of the game. The long ball put the Eagles on top 4-0, but was the only blemish in the inning for Hassan, who then struck out two more Eagles to end it. He blew a fastball by Sanchez for the second out and then dropped another hook into the zone for a called strike three against Wiswall.

But while the Eagles scored all four of their runs on three home runs, Duke needed just one long ball to tie the game at 4-4 as part of a five-run third inning. In the midst of five straight hits in the frame for Duke, Freiman mashed his second career grand slam that not only tied the game, but moved the senior first baseman into sole possession of second place on Duke's all-time home run list. Freiman's long ball was his third of the series and ACC-leading 15th of the season and followed a pair of singles from Gabriel Saade and Williams after Ryan McCurdy was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Cleanup hitter Jeremy Gould and Hassan followed Freiman's opposite field blast with consecutive singles before Boston College starter Pat Dean was able to retire his first batter of the inning. Duke got a break on the next play, however, when Zapenas mishandled a ground ball at shortstop that could have resulted in a double play, but instead let Duke load the bases. Joe Pedevillano then drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly ball to right field to put Duke on top 5-4.

The lead did not last long, however, as Sudol connected on his second solo homer of the game in the fourth inning to re-tie the game at 5-5. Sudol sent his solo shot off the scoreboard in right field before Hassan got through the rest of the inning with two more called strikeouts. The punchouts were the fifth and sixth of the game for Hassan, who matched his career-high by the end of the fourth.

Hassan was pulled from the mound in favor of O'Grady at the start of the fifth inning. With the game still deadlocked at 5-5, O'Grady made quick work of the top of Boston College's lineup and retired the two through four hitters in order. O'Grady was just as effective in the sixth and struck out two more hitters to work around a two-out single by Matt Hamlet.

The Blue Devils had a chance to go back on top in the bottom of the sixth, but had their rally shut down by Mike Dennhardt, who relieved Dean and got the final two outs of the inning. Duke left men on first and second after Saade reached with a walk and Williams knocked out his fourth hit of the game. The Blue Devils got a bad break in the inning, however, when Williams' hit was headed through the right side but caught Saade's leg when he was headed to second base. The play was then ruled dead and McCurdy, who was making his turn around third base when Saade was hit, was forced to head back to second base. Saade was ruled out on the play, giving the Blue Devils two in the inning, before Dennhardt got Freiman to ground out to end the frame.

Boston College then brought in Belfiore to get through the seventh inning, which he did without allowing a run despite having to work around a Boston College fielding error. Belfiore entered the game with a 4-0 record and seven saves and would go on to throw five complete innings to close out the game.

O'Grady, who had held Boston College scoreless for three straight innings, finally faltered and gave up the go-ahead run on a solo homer from Sanchez. Sanchez, who entered the game in an 0-for-6 slump and hitting just 1-for-10 in the series, mashed his second home run of the series well over the left-center field wall.

Just as soon as Sanchez gave Boston College the lead, however, Currier took it right back and tied the game with a pinch-hit homer that cleared the scoreboard in right field. It was the first career bomb for Currier, who entered the game with 18 at bats in his career and just nine this season. His knock was the first of three in the inning ? one of which was Williams' fifth of the game ? but would be the only one that sent in a run. Belfiore got himself out of the jam by inducing a double play ground ball from Freiman that ended the inning with the game still tied at 6-6.

Duke called on Ness to relieve O'Grady in the top of the ninth, and the junior right-hander worked through a scoreless inning to keep the game tied at 6-6. He gave up a single to Zapenas and hit a batter, but rolled a crucial double-play ground ball to Lemmerman that he converted into two outs to end the inning.

Duke got a leadoff single from Gould in the bottom of the ninth, but could do nothing with it as Belfiore forced three straight flyouts to end the inning. Boston College did the same in the top of the 10th, but Ness got himself out of trouble by getting the first two outs before Williams ended the threat by throwing out Wiswall when he tried to steal second base.

Duke came within 90 feet of winning the game in the bottom of the 10th, but left the bases loaded after Brian Litwin led off the inning with a double. After Litwin's double to the right field gap, McCurdy pushed him over to third with a sacrifice bunt. Belfiore then got a crucial groundout from Saade for the second out and then opted to intentionally walk Williams ? who was 5-for-5 on the day ? and Freiman, who had the game-tying grand slam earlier. With the bases juiced and two outs, Belfiore had no choice but to pitch to Tom Luciano, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the ninth. Belfiore won the battle, however, and struck out Luciano to end the threat and leave all three Blue Devils on base.

The Eagles also put their leadoff man on base in the top of the 11th, but got him in on a foul sacrifice fly by Anston to take a 7-6 lead. Hamlet led off the game with a single, reaching base for the fifth straight plate appearance in the game. He then stole second base and moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt from Spatola before Anston drove him in with fly ball down the left field line.

Duke will now have an off week followed by three mid-week road games. Duke will start the two-day mid-week trip with a 6 p.m. meeting against Davidson on May 5 before heading to Clinton, S.C., for a double header against Presbyterian on May 6.