March 23, 2008
ATLANTA – Gabriel Saade had five hits and Tim Sherlock drove in four runs to help Duke (19-5, 4-5 ACC) avoid an ACC series sweep to No. 17 Georgia Tech (17-5, 5-4 ACC) with a 10-3 win Sunday afternoon at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Saade went 5-for-5 with three singles, a double and a ninth-inning home run while Sherlock collected two hits, including his first home run of the season, against the Yellow Jackets. Sherlock’s three-run home run highlighted a four-run second inning for the Blue Devils.
Yellow Jacket starter Zach Von Tersch (2-1) lasted just two innings and suffered his first loss of the season after giving up the four runs, only three of which were earned, on three hits while walking two.
Derek Dietrich and Brad Feltes led Tech’s offense with two hits apiece.
Tech recorded five-consecutive hits for the first time this season to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Thomas Nichols doubled down the right field line, moved to third base on a failed pickoff attempt by Duke’s starting pitcher Grant Monroe, and scored on a ground-rule double by Charlie Blackmon for the first run of the game. Blackmon advanced to third on a base hit by Dietrich and scored Tech’s second run on an RBI single by Feltes.
Dietrich helped Tech narrow the gap to one with a towering home run to lead off the third inning, but Monroe retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced to help the Blue Devils maintain the lead.
Monroe (4-1) limited Tech to three runs on seven hits and three walks while fanning two in five innings to earn his fourth win of the season after the Blue Devils added three runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 7-3.
An eighth-inning suicide squeeze bunt by Sherlock pushed the score to 8-3 before Saade capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
The Yellow Jackets will continue their six-game homestand this week when they host Georgia State and Alabama State Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games will begin at 6 p.m., and live stats can be found at Ramblinwreck.com.
–GT–
