DURHAM, N.C. – Senior center fielder Wes Goodner went 4-for-5 with a home run and a pair of doubles, to lead Duke over third-ranked Georgia Tech, 8-7, on Saturday evening in Durham.
The Blue Devils (17-19, 5-5 ACC) pounded out 15 hits, including six doubles and a home run, en route to evening their league record at 5-5.
The two teams exchanged single runs over the first two frames, before Duke took its first lead of the series at 3-2 on a leadoff home run by Wes Goodner in the bottom of the third.
The Jackets scored in the first on an RBI double by Matt Murton, and a solo home run by Jason Basil in the top of the second. Duke responded in kind on a first inning RBI double by Wes Goodner, and an RBI single by Kevin Kelly in the bottom of the second.
Duke extended its lead to 5-2 in the fifth, on an RBI single by Larry Broadway and a run scoring groundout by David Mason.
A solo home run by Tech first baseman Jason Perry brought the Jackets back within 5-3 in the top of the sixth.
The Blue Devils scored three times in the seventh off Tech reliever Kyle Bakker, as runs came across on a squeeze bunt by Troy Caradonna, an RBI double by Larry Broadway and a run scoring single by Doug Bechtold.
Tech answered back with four of its own in the top of the eighth, on a two-out single by Jason Basil, which was followed by a three-run home run by Brad Stockton that narrowed the Duke lead to 8-7.
Tech squandered multiple opportunities in the early innings, having hit into three double plays in the game, and having had two runners picked off.
Kevin Thompson (7-2) picked up his seventh win of the season, having allowed three runs and ten hits over 6.1 innings of work. Rhett Parrott (7-2) took the loss for Georgia Tech, after yielding five runs and ten hits in six innings.
Jeff Alleva picked up his third save of the year by holding off the Jackets over the final 1.1 innings.
The two teams will wrap up their three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Jack Coombs Field.
