Big Inning Sends Wolfpack Past Blue Devils

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Saturday, April 30

Raleigh, N.C.

6:30 PM

Duke University

NC State

Big Inning Sends Wolfpack Past Blue Devils

4/30/2016 11:11:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Duke Sports Information

RALEIGH, N.C. – No. 10 NC State used seven shutout innings from Brian Brown and a seven-run fifth to down Duke , 12-2, Saturday evening at Doak Field at Dail Park.

Brown (6-1) allowed three hits over his seven-frame outing with eight strikeouts. Following NC State's (31-11, 12-6 ACC) seven-run fifth, Brown retired the final six Blue Devils he faced.

Despite the final score, the night began as a pitchers' duel between Brown and Blue Devil graduate student Trent Swart (2-2) as the Wolfpack led 1-0 after four innings. NC State's early-inning run came on an Evan Mendoza solo third-inning homer that extended his hit streak to 16 games.

Similar to Friday's series opener, Duke (24-20, 9-14 ACC) struggled to come up with key hits with runners in scoring position. The Blue Devils loaded the bases with no outs to start the fourth, but a strikeout and 4-6-3 double play kept Duke off the board.

“That was big,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “It was a 1-0 ballgame at that point. We had an opportunity with the bases loaded and nobody out, after they hit the solo home run, to have an answer. Potentially a big inning. To come off the field with nothing there, that hurt because that allowed [NC State] to really capture some momentum.”

The Blue Devils finished the evening 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, compared to a 6-for-15 performance by the Wolfpack.

The Wolfpack utilized seven hits and two Blue Devils errors to turn a 1-0 advantage into an 8-0 margin after the fifth. Following a Brett Kinnenman leadoff single, Duke mishandled back-to-back bunt attempts by Andrew Knizner and Mendoza to load the bases. NC State then rattled off six RBI hits to build a substantial lead.

“That big inning started because of our inability to execute our regular bunt defense,” Pollard said. “Trent [Swart] was throwing the ball well. Jammed [Brett] Kinneman on a 2-0 fastball for a soft single. Then they just sacrificed twice and we didn't make the play. That allowed things to kind of blow up. Credit NC State. They did a good job taking advantage of the mistakes.”

NC State tacked on a ninth run in the sixth on a Brock Deatherage RBI groundout and added three more in the eighth.

The Blue Devils scored both their runs in the ninth. Daniel Calabretta was hit by a pitch and crossed home on a Jalen Phillips' pinch hit RBI double. Cris Perez added a sacrifice fly before NC State recorded the final out.

Duke and NC State meet for the series finale Sunday, May 1 at 1:00 p.m.

#GoDuke