No. 5 Louisville Edges Duke 1-0

Friday, April 10

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

6:00 PM

Duke University

Louisville

No. 5 Louisville Edges Duke 1-0

4/10/2015 9:46:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke went toe-to-toe with No. 5 Louisville but came up just short in a 1-0 setback to the Cardinals Friday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Blue Devil left-hander Dillon Haviland turned in one of the best performances of his career, matching a career high with 5.2 innings. Haviland permitted just two hits and did not allow a run in the no decision, tossing over four innings for the first time since 2011.

“I'm incredibly proud of Dillon,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “He's persevered through a lot. He's a fifth-year senior who's put up with two arm surgeries and come back here for his final season because he cares about this program and cares about his teammates. I told him he'd earned this opportunity. He pitched great against one of the top-five clubs in the country. Gave us everything we could ask for.”

Senior Sarkis Ohanian (3-1) and freshman Mitch Stallings continued the solid pitching for the Blue Devils. Louisville (26-7, 15-1 ACC) registered just one hit off each Duke (21-14, 4-12 ACC) reliever, striking for an unearned run off Ohanian in the seventh. Ohanian and Stallings combined to strike out six and walk just one batter.

“Mitch is pitching great,” Pollard said. “When he executes that change up to that spot that's just underneath the string, it's as good a swing-and-miss pitch as we've got on our club.”

Cardinals' starter Kyle Funkhouser (5-2) pitched seven scoreless innings in the win. Funkhouser allowed four hits and one walk while striking out eight.

Louisville relievers Lincoln Henzman and Zack Burdi each tossed a hitless frame to close out the contest. Burdi pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the season.

The difference in the game proved to be a Blake Tiberi pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh. The base knock was the only hit for either team with a runner on. The two clubs hit a combined 1-for-21 with a runner on base and 1-for-15 with a runner in scoring position.

After six innings without a run, a leadoff walk came back to haunt the Blue Devils in the seventh. Designated hitter Brendan McKay drew the free pass, just the third issued by Ohanian this season in 29.0 innings. After a throwing error on a failed pickoff advanced McKay to second, Will Smith laid down the sacrifice bunt. With the infield drawn in, Tiberi laced a single through the right side to plate the game's lone run.

Duke had its chances with a runner in scoring position, including the bottom of the ninth, but was unable to come up with the key hit. Four of the Blue Devils' past five ACC games have been decided by one run.

“I told our guys, 'Three out of the last four ACC games, we're a swing away,'” Pollard said. “We're playing some of the best teams in our league. We're not going to see a better club than we saw tonight and we're a swing of the bat away from winning the ballgame. We're really close.”

Both team totaled four hits in the game. Peter Zyla, Jalen Phillips and Evan Dougherty all singled for Duke, while senior Andy Perez sent his third triple of the season off the Blue Monster with two outs in the fifth.

Duke and Louisville return to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m. The Blue Devils' Andrew Istler (2-2) takes the mound opposite the Cardinals' McKay (5-0).

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