University of North Carolina Athletics
Friday, May 11
Durham, N.C.
6 p.m.
North Carolina
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Duke
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North Carolina
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Duke
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Cooper Criswell
Photo by: Joe Bray
No. 3 Tar Heels Fall To No. 9 Duke In Game One, 7-3
May 11, 2018 | Baseball
DURHAM – No. 3 North Carolina rallied to tie the game with a three-run sixth inning, but a late Duke charge provided a 7-3 Friday night win for the No. 9 Blue Devils at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in the first game of the weekend series.
Duke struck first in the bottom of the second inning against North Carolina starter Cooper Criswell. With one out and the bases empty, Griffin Conine took a pitch well over the wall in center field, his 11th of the season to make it 1-0 Duke early.
The game settled down over the next couple of innings, but the Blue Devils plated another run on a close play at the plate in the bottom of the fifth. Jimmy Herron singled to right field as Kennie Taylor rounded third against the arm of Dallas Tessar in left. The umpires initially ruled that Brandon Martorano had tagged Taylor out, but after a review, the ruling was overturned to give Duke a 2-0 lead. Another single to right helped another run cross, giving Duke a 3-0 lead after five full innings.
The Blue Devils had the momentum, but the Heels responded in the top of the sixth with some production up and down the lineup to tie the game at three. After Ben Casparius shot a ball through the right side to give the Heels its first run of the game, Ike Freeman hit a sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded to get the Heels within one. It appeared Duke would get out of the inning, but an error by second baseman Max Miller on an Ashton McGee grounder plated another, tying the game at three.
In the bottom of the seventh, Duke was able to put a pair of runs on the board to help the Blue Devils take a 5-3 lead. With the bases loaded, Zack Kone hit Josh Hiatt's first pitch of the game down the left field line, just past the glove of a diving Kyle Datres at third base. It drove in two, giving the Duke a two-run advantage.
Duke added two more runs in the eighth and the Heels couldn't complete another comeback, giving the Blue Devils a 7-3 win in game one of the series.
The Heels and Duke will be back in action tomorrow at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park as first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. UNC will have Austin Bergner on the mound against Ryan Day.
Duke struck first in the bottom of the second inning against North Carolina starter Cooper Criswell. With one out and the bases empty, Griffin Conine took a pitch well over the wall in center field, his 11th of the season to make it 1-0 Duke early.
The game settled down over the next couple of innings, but the Blue Devils plated another run on a close play at the plate in the bottom of the fifth. Jimmy Herron singled to right field as Kennie Taylor rounded third against the arm of Dallas Tessar in left. The umpires initially ruled that Brandon Martorano had tagged Taylor out, but after a review, the ruling was overturned to give Duke a 2-0 lead. Another single to right helped another run cross, giving Duke a 3-0 lead after five full innings.
The Blue Devils had the momentum, but the Heels responded in the top of the sixth with some production up and down the lineup to tie the game at three. After Ben Casparius shot a ball through the right side to give the Heels its first run of the game, Ike Freeman hit a sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded to get the Heels within one. It appeared Duke would get out of the inning, but an error by second baseman Max Miller on an Ashton McGee grounder plated another, tying the game at three.
In the bottom of the seventh, Duke was able to put a pair of runs on the board to help the Blue Devils take a 5-3 lead. With the bases loaded, Zack Kone hit Josh Hiatt's first pitch of the game down the left field line, just past the glove of a diving Kyle Datres at third base. It drove in two, giving the Duke a two-run advantage.
Duke added two more runs in the eighth and the Heels couldn't complete another comeback, giving the Blue Devils a 7-3 win in game one of the series.
The Heels and Duke will be back in action tomorrow at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park as first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. UNC will have Austin Bergner on the mound against Ryan Day.
Team Stats
Batting:
RBI: Casparius, Ben 1 ; Freeman, Ike 1
SF: Freeman, Ike 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Datres, Kyle 1 ; Busch, Michael 1 ; Casparius, Ben 1
CS: Riley, Brandon 1
HBP: Freeman, Ike 1
Batting:
3B: Kennie Taylor 1
HR: Griffin Conine 1
RBI: Jimmy Herron 1 ; Chris Proctor 1 ; Zack Kone 2 ; Griffin Conine 1 ; Kennie Taylor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Jimmy Herron 2 ; Griffin Conine 1 ; Max Miller 1 ; Erikson Nichols 1 ; Kennie Taylor 1 ; Jack Labosky 1
SB: Kennie Taylor 1
HBP: Michael Smiciklas 1 ; Erikson Nichols 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
cf/rf
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
3B
/ Baseball
SS/2B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C/OF
/ Baseball
OF/2B/3B
/ Baseball
SS/OF
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