April 7, 2013
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke pushed a pair of runs across in each of the first two innings, and Robert Huber made those runs stand as No. 15 Georgia Tech fell 3-0 Sunday at Jack Coombs Field in the rubber-game of the weekend series.
The Yellow Jackets (23-9, 9-6) were limited to five hits in Sunday’s finale, including a pair of doubles from A.J. Murray, and dropped their second ACC series of the season. The Blue Devils improved to 19-14, 8-7 with their first series win over Tech since 2009.
Robert Huber fired the complete-game shutout, allowing just one walk and fanning seven to improve to 5-3. Andy Perez ripped a pair of triples with an RBI, a run and a walk for Duke.
Perez opened the game with a lead-off triple to the gap in right field and the hosts wasted little time taking the lead as Jeff Kremer’s sacrifice fly in the next at-bat made it 1-0.
Cole Pitts would allow two more singles and a walk to load the bases, but escaped the first with no further damage when he rolled a grounder off the bat of Kenny Koplove. Duke went right back to work in the second, with a single from Reed Anthes followed two batters later by another Perez triple for a 2-0 lead.
Pitt, though, limited the damage again as he gunned down Perez at the plate trying to score on Grant McCabe’s squeeze bunt and worked a fly-out from Jordan Betts.
But Tech’s offense was held in check by Huber. After stranding a pair on base in the first inning, a two-out double in the third by Sam Dove, a two-out double in the fourth from Murray and a two-out single in the sixth by Zane Evans were the lone base runners over the next five innings.
Murray led off the seventh inning with a double to the left-field gap, and Daniel Spingola’s two-out walk put runners at the corners before Huber dodged the jam. Dove reached on a lead-off error in the eighth and he’d be the last Tech base runner in the game. Huber’s seventh strikeout, and a 4-6-3 double play ended the eight and the Jackets went in order in the ninth.
Pitts allowed seven hits and was charged all three runs in five innings and absorbed the loss (4-3). Alex Cruz worked the final three scoreless innings with one hit and a pair of strikeouts.
Tech was limited to a season-low two runs over the three-game series. Its previous low this season was 18 in a three-game sweep of Akron on opening weekend. The Jackets finished the weekend 2-for-30 (.067) with runners in scoring position, while Duke capitalized going 4-for-16.
Kyle Wren went 0-for-4 to snap his ACC-leading 20-game hitting streak.
The Jackets remain on the road Tuesday with a 7 p.m. game at Georgia on CSS, before returning home to welcome Virginia this weekend at Russ Chandler Stadium.
