Unearned Runs Doom Elon at Duke

Duke (19-9) got things started with one out in the first as Matt Williams doubled off the wall in right.  Alex Hassan followed with a walk on a 3-2 pitch before Tom Porter got Nate Frieman to foul out to right for out number two.  Porter then induced a ground ball to short off the bat of Jeremy Gould to keep the Blue Devils off the board.

With one away in the top of the second, Bennett Davis drilled the first pitch he saw from Duke starter Jonathan Foreman over the wall in center for his sixth homer of the year.  The blast also moved Davis into a tie for eighth on the program's all-time homer chart with 24 dingers.

The Blue Devils came back in the bottom of the second.  With two away, Will Piwnica-Worms lined a single to right-center.  He then moved to third on Dennis O'Grady's looping double down the left field line.  Once again Porter averted any damage as he fanned Tom Luciano to end the frame.

Neal Pritchard added to Elon's lead in the third by sending a 3-1 pitch over the wall in left for his third homer of the year and his third in three games.

Piwnica-Worms and O'Grady lined back-to-back singles to begin the bottom of the fifth for Duke, putting runners on the corners.  Luciano followed with a walk to load the bases.  Williams grounded a ball to short, but the throw to second sailed wide and allowed both Piwnica-Worms and O'Grady to score to tie the game at two.  With runners on the corners Hassan grounded into a double play, but Luciano scored to put the Blue Devils on top by a 3-2 margin.

In the sixth, Gould was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a balk.  After Jake Lemmerman walked, a failed pick off at second moved both runners up a bag.  But the Phoenix slammed the door shut when Jared Kernodle got Gabriel Saade to fly out to shallow left before getting ground outs to third by both Piwnica-Worms and O'Grady.

Porter (0-2) was the tough luck loser after he threw a career-long 4.2 innings, but was charged with three runs – only one of which was earned.  He allowed five hits, walked three and struck out two.  It was just the third start of Porter's career, and the first since his freshman season.

Eric Pfisterer (2-1) picked up the win in relief.  He kept Elon scoreless for 3.1 innings and allowed just three hits while fanning five.  Hassan came on to earn his seventh save of the season after keeping the Phoenix off the board in the ninth.

Elon, which went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and just 1-for-13 with runners on base for the night, was led at the plate by a 2-for-4 night by Pritchard.  Mike Melillo had one single, extending his hitting streak to a career-best seven games while Cory Harrilchak drew a walk to move his streak of reaching base safely to 57 straight games.

Piwnica-Worms and O'Grady both went 2-for-3 on the night to pace the Duke offense.

The Phoenix returns home for a three-game Southern Conference series with Triad rival UNC Greensboro beginning with a 7 p.m. contest on Friday night.