Perez Walkoff Single Sends Duke to 7-6 Win

Sunday, March 22

Durham, N.C. (Durham Bulls Athletic Park)

1:00 PM

Duke University

Pittsburgh

Perez Walkoff Single Sends Duke to 7-6 Win

3/22/2015 6:42:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Down 6-3 heading to the seventh, Duke rallied for four runs over the final three frames to earn a 7-6 victory over Pitt in the series finale Sunday afternoon at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Senior Andy Perez laced the RBI walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth to help the Blue Devils capture the series win.

Perez finished with three hits to mark his fifth-straight game with two or more hits. The senior second baseman enjoyed a tremendous week at the plate, batting .522 (12-for-23) with two doubles, two home runs, a triple, six runs scored, six RBI and four stolen bases over five games.

Duke (18-6, 4-5 ACC) struggled to contain the Pitt (10-12, 4-5 ACC) offense over the first 4.1 innings, surrendering six runs on 11 hits during that span. Senior Sarkis Ohanian (3-0) took the mound with one out in the fifth and shut down the Panthers the rest of the way. Ohanian tossed 4.2 scoreless innings while allowing just one hit, a Jordan Frabasilio two-out double in the eighth. He struck out a career-high nine batters and did not issue a walk in the contest.

“He was unbelievable,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “He had Major League stuff out there on the mound today. I'm just incredibly proud of Sarkis. To me, it was the outing of the year so far for our club. When he came into the game, it didn't look great. They had all the momentum and we hadn't played great to that point. He single-handedly got momentum back in our favor with the way he pitched.”

A quick start enabled Pitt to put three runs on the board in the opening frame. Leadoff hitter Jacob Wright began with a single, the first of four Panther hits in the inning. Wright wound up scoring on a Nick Yarnall sacrifice fly before three-consecutive two-out hits plated a pair.

Duke fought back to knot the score at three-all by the bottom of the second. A. Perez doubled in the first, stole third and ultimately scored on a Max Miller RBI groundout. Freshman Justin Bellinger reached on an error in the second before classmate Jack Labosky singled to put the first two runners on. Following a wild pitch, Evan Dougherty lifted a sacrifice fly to center and Kenny Koplove picked up the RBI with a groundball to short.

Pitt regained the advantage in the fourth and added two more runs in the fifth to claim the 6-3 lead. Ron Sherman singled and wound up scoring on a balk call to break the tie. The following frame, Aaron Schnurbusch roped an RBI triple, then came home on a wild pitch to give Pitt a three-run cushion.

Schnurbusch finished the day with two doubles, a triple, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Panthers at the plate.

The Blue Devil bats fell silent over the middle innings due in large part to the pitching performance of Pitt's Marc Berube. Berube sat down 13-straight Blue Devils from the second to the seventh. He pitched seven innings in the no decision, allowing four runs on four hits while striking out six.

Duke regained some life with a run in the seventh. With a runner in scoring position and two outs, Koplove rifled an RBI base hit to trim the deficit to 6-4 heading into the final two stanzas.

Duke had totaled just four hits over the first seven innings, but struck for six hits over the final two frames to complete the comeback. A. Perez led off the eighth with a base hit and pinch hitter Grant McCabe added a base knock of his own. With two outs, Bellinger sent a two-run double to right field, plating a pair to tie the score at 6-6.

Ohanian struck out the side to start the ninth, setting the tone for the bottom half. Freshman Peter Zyla came on to pinch hit and added a single to start the rally. A Jalen Phillips base hit, his second of the day, put runners on first and second for A. Perez. After falling behind 0-2, Perez worked the count even and lined a low slider over the outstretched glove of Pitt second baseman Frabasilio for the game-winning hit.

Following a stretch of 10-consecutive home games in 14 days, Duke takes to the road Tuesday, Mar. 24 for a game at Liberty. The Blue Devils and the Flames are set for a 3 p.m. first pitch.

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