After two days marked by displays of offensive firepower from both teams, N.C. State's fourth-ranked baseball team edged the 19th-ranked Blue Devils in a 2-1 pitching gem Sunday at historic Jack Coombs Field. The Wolfpack won the rubber match of the series after Duke clubbed State 12-4 on Saturday. The Pack won Friday's game 9-1.
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon State's Tommy Sports outdueled Duke's Phil Harrell to improve the Wolfpack's record to 28-4 overall and 8-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a mark good for first place in the league. The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 27-8-1 overall, 7-5 in the ACC.
Harrell had no problem following stellar freshman Scott Schoeneweis, who pitched Duke to its lone weekend win Saturday. While Schoeneweis improved his record to a perfect 8-0, Harrell delivered Duke's most dominating pitching performance of the weekend. Harrell (3-2) threw a complete game six-hitter, striking out five along the way.
"We have a lot of young talented pitchers," the senior said after Sunday's game. "What I've been trying to do is go out every third start and do the best I can. I want to set an example for the younger guys."
Harrell did just that in his nine-inning stint Sunday. In Saturday's victory, Schoeneweis gave up eight hits in only five and one-third innings, although he did strike out seven. Fellow freshman David Darwin fell to 4-2 on Friday after giving up 10 hits and seven runs in five innings in State's series-opening win. But Harrell shut down N.C. State's high-powered offense, which had pounded out 14 and 15 hits in the previous two games, respectively.
"Harrell stopped everything," said Wolfpack head coach Ray Tanner after his team's narrow victory. "He kept us off balance all day. He has one of the best change-ups I've seen."
Harrell needed it in the fourth inning when the Wolfpack threatened to break a scoreless tie. First baseman Andy Barkett opened the inning with a single and third baseman Tim Tracey, 3-for-3 for the day at the plate, followed with a walk. After left fielder Pat Clougherty sacrificed, N.C. State had runners on second and third with only one out.
But Harrell forced designated hitter Aubrey Shaw to ground out to third baseman Sean McNally. McNally held the runner at third and threw to first for the out. With two outs, Harrell got ahead 0-2 on right fielder Kevin Ross after baffling him with an off-speed pitch and then throwing his fast ball down the middle for the second strike. He then got Ross to fly out to left and end the threat.
"Phil Harrell did an unbelievable job," said Duke head coach Steve Traylor. "We don't need to hang our heads [over the loss]. We saw a good pitcher in Sports and they saw a good one in Harrell."
The Wolfpack finally broke through in the sixth inning. Tracey lined a shot over the left field wall, his fifth home run of the year. The dinger gave N.C. State a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Devils answered with a run of their own in the seventh off Sports, who pitched a six-hitter over seven innings. With one out, second baseman Jeff Piscorik lined a double to deep left-center field. Shortstop Mike Olexa knocked him in when he singled the ball through the hole between short and third to tie the game at 1-1.
Olexa advanced to second on the throw home, but the Blue Devils could not bring Olexa in. After catcher Matt Harrell flied out to right and Olexa tagged to advance to third, right fielder Cass Hopkins grounded out to third to end the inning.
N.C. State struck right back in the top of the eighth. Harrell walked leadoff batter Ryan Ferby on four pitches, and Barkett laid down a perfect bunt to advance him to second. With one out and a full count, Tracey hit the payoff pitch through the hole between short and third to put runners on the corners. Clougherty then knocked in the game-winning run with his sacrifice fly. Shaw ended the inning with a ground-out to second.
After scoring the go-ahead run, the Wolfpack brought in their closer, David Allen. Allen shut the door firmly on the Blue Devils, giving up one hit in two innings and notching his 10th save of the season. Allen has now pitched 13 and two-thirds innings on the year, giving up only seven hits and five walks, while striking out 21. He has given up zero earned runs for N.C. State this season.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils pounded out 15 hits against Wolfpack starter Shawn Senior for their 12-4 victory. Senior, who led the league with a 1.24 ERA before the game, was driven out of the contest in the second inning after giving up six hits and five earned runs.
Senior's replacement, Chad McLamb, was able to stop the flood for three innings, but then Duke exploded against him as well, putting the game away with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Piscorik started the five-run sixth with his first home run of the year. Batting in the eighth slot in the order, he was 2-for-3 for the afternoon with two RBIs.
"Piscorik should be singled out," Traylor said after Sunday's game. "He hit .290 as a freshman last year. This year we've platooned him with Luis Duarte and used him when we've faced left-handed pitchers. But we haven't faced many lefties recently. Finally he just went in and earned the starting job again today even though they pitched a righty. I can't say enough about Jeff."
The rest of the Blue Devil firepower came from the middle of the lineup. First baseman Scott Pinoni went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, third baseman Sean McNally hit 3-for-5 with three RBIs and left fielder Mike King had three hits and knocked in four runs. N.C. State collected 15 hits but also stranded 15 runners. Ryan Jackson pitched the last two and two-thirds innings to record his fifth save on the year.
"It was a great win for us," Harrell said after his solid pitching performance Sunday. "It was a real tribute to our team not to roll over and die after Friday."
Friday the Wolfpack was led offensively by Clougherty, who hit his 11th homer of the year in the 9-1 rout. But the story of the game was pitcher Terry Harvey. Harvey, a sophomore who also doubles as quarterback for the Wolfpack football team, improved to 8-0 with his dominating performance. Harvey pitched eight innings, giving up only five hits while striking out eight.
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