Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Duke
Blue Devils Claim Series Finale Over Deacons, 3-2
3/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) 
Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeBaseball)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Duke took a lead in the second inning and clung to it the rest of the game, holding off Wake Forest 3-2 in the series finale at David F. Couch Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.
Despite more than doubling the Blue Devils' (11-13, 2-7 ACC) hit total, all 11 of the Demon Deacon (16-10, 4-5 ACC) hits were singles and they left 10 men on base in the loss.
The best chance for the Deacs came in the eighth as Joey Rodriguez and Nate Mondou led off the inning with back-to-back singles.
However, Duke responded with back-to-back strikeouts before Stuart Fairchild's RBI single brought home Rodriguez and cut the Blue Devil lead to one. After Gavin Sheets was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Duke was able to escape the jam by forcing a groundout.
Three Wake Forest players recorded multi-hit games, including a three-hit outing for Rodriguez. Ben Breazeale and Fairchild added two hits apiece and drove in the only two runs of the game for the Deacs.
Deacon starting pitcher Drew Loepprich (2-1) was lifted after two innings and took the loss, but the bullpen was solid again, as John McCarren tossed 4.2 innings of one-hit ball, along with a season-high five strikeouts.
Garrett Kelly continued his solid work, firing 2.0 perfect innings with two strikeouts.
For the second consecutive game, Duke opened the scoring in the top of the second, as a two-out hit by pitch forced home the game's first run.
Neither team threatened again until the Blue Devils added an insurance run in the sixth on a one-out homer from third baseman Jack Labosky, the only homer of the series for the Blue Devils.
The Deacs scored their first run of the game on a sixth-inning two-out single up the middle from Breazeale.
After surrendering 12 runs on Friday night, the Duke pitching staff was solid for the second straight game on Sunday, as right-hander Brian McAfee (3-2) earned the win by scattering nine hits over 7.0 innings of two-run ball.
Lefty Mitch Stallings stranded the bases loaded in the eighth and pitched around a two-out single in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
Wake Forest heads into an eight-game road swing, first traveling to Elon for a 6 p.m. contest on Tuesday.
