Duke Drops Sunday Finale to Boston College 2-1

Sunday, March 28

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Duke Drops Sunday Finale to Boston College 2-1

3/28/2010 3:00:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Pat Dean won a pitcher's duel against Duke's Dennis O'Grady to lead Boston College to a series-clinching 2-1 win over the Blue Devils in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Shea Field.

Dean (4-0) scattered six hits gave up just one run in his first complete game of the season. The junior left-hander fired 92 pitches and did not surrender a run over his final five innings to lower his season ERA to 2.37.

Dean and O'Grady (0-1) did not walk a single batter in the game, which took only one hour and 59 minutes to complete. O'Grady surrendered two runs over a career-high eight innings for Duke while striking out a career-high six hitters. A junior right-hander, O'Grady fired 105 pitches and also did not allow a run in his final five innings in his first career complete game.

Three consecutive two-out hits in the fourth inning by Boston College (10-13, 3-6 ACC) proved to be the difference as designated hitter Matt Watson and left fielder Mike Sudol both drove in RBI in that frame. Duke (14-9, 3-6 ACC) took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single by Jake Lemmerman, but had that quickly erased when Watson tied the game with his two-out knock in the fourth and Sudol drove in the go-ahead run with another two-out knock later in the inning.

Dean and O'Grady held the game scoreless through the first three innings with Dean retiring all nine batters he faced. O'Grady scattered two singles, but let neither hurt him. O'Grady got some help in the first inning from Duke second baseman Marcus Stroman, who backhanded a ground ball near his bag with a runner on first, stepped on second and then spun and fired to first base to complete a double play.

Duke got to Dean in the fourth inning and strung together consecutive two-out hits to take a 1-0 lead. Senior Ryan McCurdy started the rally with a base hit back up the middle and then moved to second on a two-out base hit through the right side by classmate Jeremy Gould. Lemmerman then came through with a first-pitch single through the left side that gave McCurdy just enough time to score from second base.

The Eagles responded with some clutch hitting of their own in the bottom of the fourth, however, and went ahead 2-1 following three straight two-out singles. Watson came to the plate with two-hitter Matt Hamlet on second base and ripped the first pitch he saw into center field to tie the game at 1-1. Melchionda and Sudol followed with two more base hits with Sudol's knock plating Wilson for the go-ahead run.

Dean and O'Grady settled down after the fourth inning and posted two more scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth. Both clubs put a runners in scoring position with one out in the fifth only to leave them both stranded. O'Grady fanned four batters and walked none over his first six innings while Dean fanned two and scattered four hits.

The scoreless streak extended into the seventh when O'Grady set new career highs with seven innings pitched and six strikeouts. O'Grady used just 10 pitches to retire the side in the seventh and needed just seven of those to strike out the last two hitters he faced. The last two punchouts gave O'Grady six strikeouts for the game, which surpassed his previous high of five.

Duke got a one-out single from Stroman in the top of the eighth, but could do nothing with it as Dean spoiled yet another Duke scoring opportunity. Through his first eight innings, Dean threw just 81 pitches and stranded three Duke base runners. He would stay on again in the ninth and use 10 more pitches to end the game with the tying run on first base.

Up next for Duke is three midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 30-31. Duke hosts High Point for a 6 p.m. affair at the USA Baseball National Training Complex on Tuesday before taking on N.C. Central in a double header at the Durham Athletic Park on Wednesday.

-d-u-k-e-