Duke Splits Doubleheader at Virginia Tech

Saturday, April 23

Blacksburg, Va.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Splits Doubleheader at Virginia Tech

4/23/2016 3:41:00 PM | Baseball

BASE vs. VIRGINIA TECH (2): Audio Archive Game 2 Box Score (PDF)Game 2 Box Score (HTML)Game 1 Box Score (PDF)Game 1 Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Duke and Virginia Tech split a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at English Field at Union Park. The Hokies won the first contest, 3-2, on a walkoff single before the Blue Devils rebounded for a resounding 19-9 victory in game two.

“Tough way to lose the frontend of a doubleheader,” said head coach Chris Pollard, “but you have to have a lot of toughness to get off the mat.”

GAME 1
Catcher Andrew Mogg lined a walkoff single to left in the bottom of the ninth to help Virginia Tech (13-27, 4-16 ACC) to the 3-2 victory in the series opener.

Down 2-0 in the top of the ninth, sophomore Justin Bellinger tied the game in the ninth with his fourth home run of the season. Sophomore Jack Labosky was hit by a pitch with one out before Bellinger sent a breaking ball past the right field scoreboard.

Virginia Tech countered quickly in the bottom half. Sam Fragale drew a five-pitch leadoff walk and took second on a sacrifice bunt. Mogg then laced the first pitch he saw to left field to score the game-winning run.

Labosky (0-4) suffered the loss, taking the mound in the ninth.

Virginia Tech left-hander Kit Scheetz (4-4) was two outs shy of his first career shutout prior to Bellinger's bomb. Scheetz struck out seven and did not walk a batter in the win, scattering six hits. He threw 108 pitches and only permitted two Blue Devil baserunners to reach scoring position prior to the ninth.

“Scheetz pitched an incredible ballgame,” Pollard said. “He only went to a three-ball count twice in nine innings.”

Following 6 ½ scoreless innings, Virginia Tech struck for two in the bottom of the seventh. Cleanup hitter Nick Anderson doubled inside the left field line to begin the frame and advanced to third on Fragale's sacrifice bunt. Garrett Hudson lifted a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to center to plate the game's first run. Raheim Cooper bounced an RBI single up the middle, scoring the Hokies' second run.

Sophomore Jack Labosky roped his team-leading 16th double of the season in the fourth, while freshman Jimmy Herron, sophomore Michael Smiciklas, sophomore Max Miller and sophomore Evan Dougherty had a hit each.

Graduate student Kellen Urbon pitched well in the no decision, yielding just two runs on six hits over 6.2 innings. Urbon fanned two and did not issue a walk.

GAME 2
In the complete opposite of game one, Saturday's second contest saw Duke (22-18, 8-12 ACC) score a season-high 19 runs on 19 hits. Seven of Duke's starting nine registered two or more RBI, led by Bellinger, Herron, Perez and Smiciklas with three each.

Duke scored at least one run in each of the first seven frames, including 10 over the first two.

The Blue Devils belted seven extra base hits over the course of nine innings. Perez knocked a fourth-inning solo shot over the left field wall, while Bellinger had a pair of doubles and Herron added a double and his first career triple.

Hokie starter Connor Coward (0-2) struggled with his command, walking three of the seven batters he faced and hitting another. Coward registered just one out and allowed four runs on two hits – a Peter Zyla two-run double and a Smiciklas two-run single.

Duke did not escape the first with the lead as the Hokies received two-run homers from both Phil Sciretta and Fragale to tie the game, 4-4.

Undeterred, the Blue Devils put up six runs in the second to stake a 10-4 advantage. Duke sent 11 batters to the plate with Herron, Bellinger and Perez all doubling. Five different Blue Devils had an RBI in the frame.

Duke added two third-inning runs without a hit, using two walks, two balks and a Zack Kone RBI groundout to extend the lead, 12-4. After the Hokies got a run back, Perez answered with a fourth-inning leadoff homer, his third of the season.

A Herron two-run triple and Chris Proctor RBI single made it a 17-6 ballgame in the fifth. Duke tacked on solo runs in both the sixth and seventh. Virginia Tech scored the final runs of the game, getting a Raheim Cooper two-run homer to right in the bottom of the ninth.

Junior Bailey Clark (4-4) picked up the win after pitching the final five innings. Clark allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter.

“Really proud of Bailey Clark,” Pollard added. “It was a really tough day to pitch. Wind was blowing. As a staff, we only walked one guy and struck out 13.”

Duke and Virginia Tech meet for the series finale at 1 p.m, Sunday, April 23 at English Field at Union Park.

#GoDuke