For four innings, North Carolina A&T pitcher Steve McLeod cruised through the Duke order without giving up a hit.
In the next inning, the Blue Devils staged a six-run rally and knocked McLeod out of the game, all without lifting a bat off their shoulders.
After the first four frames, McLeod was working on a no-hitter and had retired 10 of the first 11 hitters he faced, with the only blemish coming when Wes Goodner reached on a throwing error. Then in the fifth, the floodgates opened and the Blue Devils literally walked right through them.
Aided by the 14 bases on balls that the Aggies pitchers issued, the Blue Devils (16-18) erased a 1-0 deficit with six runs on one hit and seven walks in the fifth inning and rolled to an 11-1 victory against the Aggies (6-31) yesterday at historic Jack Coombs Field.
McLeod walked five of the first six hitters he faced in that strange fifth inning and looked up at a 3-1 deficit, all with Duke's hit column still reading zero. Kevin Kelly finally broke up the no-hitter with a grounder past the diving shortstop, driving in two runs to extend the lead to 5-1.
"[McLeod] just lost it," coach Steve Traylor
The Blue Devils' good fortunes continued even after McLeod left the mound. David Nelson, who not only inherited McLeod's base runners but apparently his wildness as well, uncorked two wild pitches and walked the next two hitters before finally getting Scott Grossi to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Duke's walking parade continued in the seventh when two walks, two N.C. A&T errors and David Mason's single pushed two more runs across. After seven innings, the Blue Devils had scored eight runs on the strength of two hits, both singles.
While their pitchers couldn't find the strike zone, the Aggies hitters couldn't find holes in the Duke defense. Starter Stephen Cowie (6-5, 5.43 ERA) went five innings, surrendering only two hits and an unearned run to pick up the win. Teddy Sullivan finished the game with four scoreless innings.
"We are trying to get [Cowie] to get more movement on his fastball and get his location down," Traylor said. "He's been a maximum effort pitcher this year-he's not that type of pitcher. He needs to take a little bit off and get some sink. That's what he was last year and you see the difference. I think he took a step in the right direction."
Goodner rounded out the scoring by drilling the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning over the left field fence for a three-run homer. The blast was the sophomore's fourth of the season and moved him into a tie with Ed Conrey for the RBI lead on the team with 27.
"I was really frustrated, I swung at another garbage pitch [in the previous at-bat}," Goodner said. "They've been throwing me inside on the first pitch all four at-bats. But they were really far off the plate. That pitch just kind of laid it right out on the inside half-that's my favorite pitch."
The Blue Devils will continue their search for the elusive first conference win when they host perennial powerhouse Georgia Tech at Jack Coombs this weekend.
Note: Duke learned yesterday that sophomore pitcher Brent Reid will likely be out the remainder of the season with biceps tendinitis.
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