No. 12 Miami Holds Off Duke, 4-3

Friday, April 3

Coral Gables, Fla.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Miami

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No. 12 Miami Holds Off Duke, 4-3

4/3/2015 11:45:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 12 Miami scored two runs in the second and the seventh hold off Duke, 4-3, in the series opener Friday night at Mark Light Field at Alex Rodriguez Park.

Miami (22-9, 9-4 ACC) totaled 13 hits to four for Duke (19-11, 4-9 ACC), but the Blue Devil pitching staff was able to work out of trouble for the majority of the game. The Hurricanes stranded 14 runners and left the bases loaded in three frames.

After redshirt senior Dillon Haviland pitched a scoreless first, the first five Hurricane batters reached base to start a two-run Miami second. George Iskenderian singled, Willie Abreu doubled and Garrett Kennedy drove in a run with a RBI base knock. A walk loaded the bases for leadoff hitter Carl Chester, who lifted a sacrifice fly to Michael Smiciklas in center field.

The 2-0 lead stood until the top of the fourth. After three frames without a baserunner, Mike Rosenfeld worked his way on with a one-out walk. Freshman Peter Zyla extended his hit streak to a team-best seven games, driving his third triple to right field. An errant throw to third base allowed Zyla to scamper home, knotting the score at 2-2.

Miami left six runners on base from the second through the sixth before breaking through for two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Iskenderian dropped a single in front of the Duke outfield before an Abreu double barely found the gap in right center. With runners at second and third, Kennedy roped a two-run base hit to break the 2-2 stalemate.

Freshman Mitch Stallings (3-4) wound up with the loss. He allowed just the two hits but was credited with both runs. Stallings struck out four and walked two.

Reliever Sarkis Ohanian continued his strong season by keeping Miami off the board for the remainder of the contest. Ohanian allowed two hits and struck out five, including fanning the final two batters of the eighth with the bases loaded.

With the Hurriances effectively held in check, Max Miller and Andy Perez registered back-to-back singles to kick off the eighth. Zyla was hit by a pitch to load the bases and a wild pitch allowed Miller to cross home. Miami closer Bryan Garcia was able to evade further damage, recording a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.

Garcia was perfect in the ninth to register his sixth save of the season. Reliever Michael Mediavilla (1-0) collected the win after tossing a scoreless seventh. Miami starter Thomas Woodrey allowed two runs on two hits in the no decision.

The Blue Devils and the Hurricanes square off for the second game of the series at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 3. Duke's Andrew Istler takes the mound opposite Miami's Andrew Suarez.

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