In a weekend defined by offense and late comebacks, it was ironically two vintage pitching performances that determined the victor in Sunday’s rubber game.
Despite Blue Devil starter Dennis O’Grady’s eight innings of two-run ball, Boston College’s Pat Dean did him one better, allowing only one run and six hits in a complete game to give the Eagles the 2-1 edge in both that game and the weekend series.
“I thought Dennis matched Dean throughout,” Duke head coach Sean McNally said. “Both guys were top-flight ACC starters today.”
Duke (14-9, 3-6 in the ACC) failed in its attempt to secure a second comeback victory of the weekend when Jake Lemmerman grounded out in the ninth inning after Jeremy Gould’s two-out single.
But that wasn’t the case Saturday in the middle game of the series, in which a two-run double by Gould in the top of the seventh inning gave Duke a 4-2 lead, which the Blue Devils were able to hold onto in a 5-4 win.
Gould finished the day 3-for-5 with three RBIs, with O’Grady (playing second base in the contest) accounting for Duke’s other two runs.
In the opener of the series, also played Saturday in a double-header, the roles were reversed. Despite claiming a 3-0 lead by the top of the sixth inning, the Blue Devil bullpen was unable to hold on, allowing Boston College ((10-13, 3-6) to come back and claim a 5-3 victory.
“We had a great opportunity to win the first game—I felt like we let it slip away. In game two, we were able to get a lead and hang on,” McNally said.
In his first start of the season in the early game Saturday, Christopher Manno pitched 5.1 no-hit innings before his control failed him. After giving up two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Manno walked the only batter he faced in the eighth inning and was subsequently pulled for Michael Ness.
But as is often the case, the leadoff walk proved to be the impetus to a big inning for the Eagles. After Matt Hamlet tied the game, John Spatola drove in the decisive two runs with a two-out single of his own.
“Manno gave us a great start in game one, and Ness came in and did what we needed to do—he got ground balls, but unfortunately they were in the wrong spots,” McNally said.
Duke will try to get back on track in the ACC with another road series against Georgia Tech next weekend.
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