Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Duke
Demon Deacons Fall To Duke, 7-6, In 11 Innings
4/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 9, 2004
DURHAM, N.C. (www.goduke.com) - The Duke Blue Devils scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and one in the 11th to post a come-from-behind victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 7-6, Friday night at Jack Coombs Field.
Sophomore Javier Socorro went 3-for-5 to extend his career-long hitting streak to 10 games. Junior Bryan Smith and sophomore Brian Hernandez each also had three hits for the Blue Devils.
"I'm very happy for the guys," Duke head coach Bill Hillier said. "They've maintained positive attitudes and continued to work hard. This was a big win for us. It's good to win the first game of the series and now we'll try to come out and win game two tomorrow."
Wake Forest jumped out to 5-0 lead with a run in the first and four in the second. Nick Blue led off the game with a double off the left-center field wall and scored on a single to left by Ben Ingold. After two quick outs in the top of the second, the Demon Deacons took advantage of control problems by Duke starting pitcher Tim Layden. Matt Miller singled through the right side before Layden walked one Wake batter and hit two. Ingold then gave the Demon Deacons a five-run lead with a bases-loaded double to left-center.
The Demon Deacons added a run in the third on a solo home run by Steve LeFaivre to increase the lead to 6-0.
Duke got on the board with a run in the bottom of the third. Freshman Kyle Silver drew a lead-off walk, advanced to third on an error and scored on a single to right by Socorro.
The Blue Devils tied the game at 6-6 with five runs in the bottom of the eighth. Layden and freshman Corey Whiting led off with back-to-back singles and Hernandez plated Layden with a one-out single. After a pinch-hit single by freshman Tony Bajoczky loaded the bases, freshmen Kyle Silver and Jonathan Anderson drew bases-loaded walks. Bajoczky scored on a wild pitch to make it a 6-5 game and Silver and Anderson each advanced one base. Socorro's third hit of the day, a single to left field, knocked in Silver, but Anderson was thrown out trying to score from second base.
Duke completed the come-from-behind victory with a run in the bottom of the 11th. Whiting reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on a single to center field by Smith.
"Corey Whiting did a good job getting on base in the 11th," Hillier said. "And I was glad to see Brian Hernandez get a big hit (in the eighth)."
Freshman Danny Otero pitched well in relief of Layden, who lasted just two innings for the Blue Devils. He allowed one run on five hits and struck out three in 5.2 innings. Freshman David Torcise and junior Greg Burke then shut down the Demon Deacons the rest of the way. Burke (4-4) pitched the final three innings, striking out four and not allowing a hit, to pick up the win.
"Danny Otero did an outstanding job," Hillier said. "Tim Layden was struggling and I felt Danny was the guy to come in and give us a chance to get back in it. He did just that. I'm very pleased with Danny Otero, David Torcise and Greg Burke and of the way our guys battled. They did a great job of competing."
Justin Keadle turned in a solid starting performance on the mound for the Deacons. He pitched 7.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned). Kirby Wedekind (0-1) took the loss for Wake Forest after allowing one run in 0.2 innings.
Duke (16-18, 4-6 ACC) and Wake Forest (11-19, 1-9 ACC) will play the second game of their three-game series Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and conclude the series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
