GREENSBORO, NC With a pair of four-run innings, Duke defeated UNC Greensboro, 10-3, in a Tuesday evening contest at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Blue Devils out hit the Spartans, 10-7, to claim their second victory in Greensboro and their fourth overall against UNCG.
After three scoreless innings, Duke lit up the board first with four runs in the fourth; a rally sparked by back-to-back hits to right center. Two innings later, another hit into the right center gap gave them the 6-0 lead. UNCG crept up scoring two in the home half of the sixth, but another inning of four in the ninth pushed the Blue Devil lead to 10-2. Holding the Spartans to just one in the bottom of the ninth, Duke came away with the 10-3 win.
After dropping its seventh ACC contest of the season, the Spartans are now 24-15 overall and remain tied for second place in the Southern Conference with a 10-5 mark. With the win, Duke improves to 28-13-1, 6-13-1 ACC.
Both Matt Gaski and Sean Snell notched hits on the evening to extend their hits streaks to eight straight games. Snell and Corey Overholtzer were both 2-for-4 on the evening with an RBI and a run. Snell added a double while Overholtzer tacked on his third triple of the season.
Despite throwing three of the pitching staff's six strikeouts, junior Kory Judd (0-1) took the loss for UNCG in his first start on the rubber this season. Duke starter Will Currier (4-5) was credited with the victory after 5.1 innings on the hill with three strikeouts and no walks.
The Blue Devils posted four runs off of four hits to take the lead over the Spartans in the fourth. Gabriel Saade drove in the first two runs of the game with the evening's first double. He was then plated in the next at-bat as Jonathan Nicolla singled to right center. Four bats later, Nicolla rounded home to give Duke the 4-0 lead.
A right center double by Matt Williams bumped Duke up by two more in the sixth before UNCG could put their first mark on the board.
In the home half of inning six, senior Sean Snell slapped a double into left field to bring fellow senior Matt Gaski down the line from third. Snell scored UNCG's second run of the game off of a leftfield single by sophomore Corey Overholtzer.
Already holding a 6-2 lead, the Blue Devils went on a four-run rally in the ninth to take a commanding 10-2 lead with just one of the runs scored off of a successful hit.
A leadoff triple by Overholtzer in the bottom half of the inning put him in position to score during the next at-bat. He would be the lone Spartan to cross the plate in the final inning as the Blue Devils came away with the 10-3 victory and tallied their second win at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
The Spartans are back in action Wednesday night at UNCG Baseball Stadium as they take on the Wolfpack of NC State. Game time is slated for 6pm. They remain at home to play their sixth conference series as they take on SoCon rivals, the top-ranked Elon Phoenix starting at 6pm Friday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium. The teams will follow with a 1pm first pitch on Saturday and a 1pm start on Sunday.
For news about UNCG baseball, complete season schedule, and any other information regarding Spartan athletics log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.
# # UNCG # #
Duke 10, UNC Greensboro 3 (Apr 22, 2008 at Greensboro, NC)
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Duke....................... 000 402 004 - 10 10 0 (28-13-1)
UNC Greensboro...... 000 002 001 - 3 7 3 (24-15)
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Pitchers: Duke - Currier, W.; O'Grady, D.(6); Causey, R.(9).
UNC Greensboro - Kory Judd; James White(4); Blake Hassebrock(6); Ian Phillips(9).
Win-Currier, W.(4-5)
Loss-Kory Judd(0-1)
