Baseball 5/9/2007 8:00:00 PM UNCGSpartans.com

Duke uses late rally to take 5-4 win over UNCG

Box Score

GREENSBORO, NC Brett Bartles' two-run home run in the top of the ninth tied the game at 4-4 and Gabriel Saade's RBI triple in the same inning gave Duke the 5-4 win over UNC Greensboro on Wednesday night at UNCG Baseball Stadium.

After being down 4-2 going into the ninth, Bartles sent a deep shot to centerfield to tie the game at four a piece. Duke (27-20) took their first lead of the game on Saade's RBI triple to left-center that scored Alexander Haasan.

After 3-1/2 scoreless innings, UNCG (25-24) put two runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth to take the 2-0 lead. Ricky Orton and Greg Feltes recorded back-to-back two-out singles and Sean Snell reached on a hit by pitch to load the bases. Designated hitter Brandon Harvey connected on a 2-2 pitch and sent a double down the leftfield line to score Orton and Feltes.

The Spartans added two runs in the bottom of the fifth to go up 4-0. Tim Carrier reached on a hit by pitch and advanced on a wild pitch before being plated by a Guy Welsh single up the middle. Orton followed with a two-bagger to left-center to bring Welsh home and give UNCG the four-run advantage.

Duke finally got on the board in the top of the eighth on a two-run homer by Jonathan Nicolla. Saade reached on a walk before Nicolla sent his first roundtripper of the season over the left-center wall.

Michael Ness (4-3) picked up the win after pitching 3-1/3 innings and only gave up one hit. Michael Seander earned his ninth save of the year after giving up just one hit in the ninth.

Kory Judd (4-4) took the loss after allowing two runs on one hit in relief for the Spartans. Starter Rob Gilliam allowed just two runs on four hits in 7-2/3 innings of work. The freshman from Chapel Hill, NC struck out a career-high seven batters.

Orton finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and extended his hitting streak to 18 games. Harvey went 2-for-4 with two RBI for UNCG.

The Spartans return to Southern Conference action when they travel to the College of Charleston for a three-game series beginning Friday.

AGATE

Score by Innings R H E

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Duke................ 000 000 023 - 5 8 1

UNC Greensboro...... 000 220 000 - 4 8 0

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Pitchers: UNCG Gilliam; Gibson (8); Judd (9); Harvey (9)

Pitchers: Duke Wolcott; Ness (5); Seander (9)

Win Michael Ness (4-3) Save Michael Seander (9) Loss Kory Judd (4-4)

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