RALEIGH - Despite dropping a double-header to N.C. State Saturday and falling behind again yesterday afternoon, Duke baseball coach Bill Hillier had no doubt in his mind of the outcome of yesterday's baseball game.
He knew all along that his Blue Devils would win.
"When I've got Ryan [Caradonna] on the mound, I think he always gives us a chance to win," Hillier said. "So, I wasn't really nervous."
Behind a strong outing from Caradonna, Duke (14-29, 4-11 in the ACC) defeated the Wolfpack 8-5 yesterday at Doak Field in Raleigh. Caradonna (5-6) won the game, giving up five runs and 11 hits in his seven innings of work.
"Ryan has been very strong for us especially in the last four or five outings," Hillier said. "When he is pitching, our players feel like it's our best chance to win and they play very well when he's on the mound they give him run support."
Duke took an early 2-1 lead, but the Wolfpack responded with three runs in the fourth inning.
Larry Broadway brought the Blue Devils within one following a solo homer to left field. Then in the seventh, second baseman J.D. Alleva began the inning with a walk. Jeff Becker then brought him in with a two-run home run which gave Duke a 5-4 lead.
"Before he went to the plate, I was kidding [Becker], I said, 'You know our freshmen and sophomores have been getting all the home runs, it's about time for you to step up' and then he did with a two-run homer," Hillier said. "I'm happy for Jeff, he's been a team leader for me all year."
In the bottom of the seventh, N.C. State's Brian Wright hit a double, scoring Craig Lee, who got on second base when Becker dove and missed a grounder that came his way. But that would prove to be the last Wolfpack run of the game.
After that, the Blue Devils took a commanding lead. In the eighth inning, Goodner got a line-drive single, Doug Bechtold then wore out State's pitcher with five fouls and two attempted sacrifice bunts before finally singling to move Goodner to third.
Brian Patrick, who pinch hit for Gideon Thompson, delivered a single to score Goodner. A J.D. Alleva sacrifice fly gave Duke a 7-5 advantage, and Becker, who was 2-for-2 with four RBIs on the game closed out the scoring streak with a single that brought in Patrick.
Broadway, who was Duke's first baseman for most of the game, pitched the last two innings, giving up just one hit en route to his second save of the season.
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