Strike one: Duke clinches series over Seminoles
Duke defeated (5) Florida State 3-1 in Saturday’s game two that clinched a series victory over the Seminoles for the Blue Devils. Duke starter Trent Swart allowed just one run and struck out nine hitters to earn his third victory of the season. Duke has now won seven-straight games.
Duke’s Justin Bellinger added an important insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run, which was his fifth of the season. The Blue Devils will try for the sweep Sunday that would increased their chances for earning a bid into the NCAA tournament.
The loss puts the Seminoles two games behind (6) Louisville in the ACC Atlantic standings. A sweep would decrease Florida State’s chances at potentially becoming one of the eight national seeds that will host through the super regionals.
Strike two: Wright goes the distance in Gainesville
(11) Vanderbilt starting pitcher Kyle Wright struck out 10 Gators and allowed just three hits in a complete game shutout victory Saturday, as the Commodores defeated (1) Florida 5-0.
The victory improves Wright to 7-3 this season and evens the series 1-1 against the Gators. Florida starter and top draft prospect A.J. Puk took his third loss of the season, though he struck out 11 hitters and allowed just one earned run.
Vanderbilt broke the game open in the top of the eighth inning with three runs off of Florida reliever Kirby Snead. With (8) South Carolina losing to (2) Texas A&M Saturday, the Gators still sit at the top of the SEC East standings by a game over the Gamecocks.
Strike three: Yale uses ninth inning heroics in game one
Yale took game one of the Ivy League Championship Series over Princeton Saturday with a 8-7 victory. The Bulldogs entered the ninth inning trailing 7-6 after Princeton had plated two runs in the bottom half of the eighth.
Yale third baseman Richard Slenker hit a two-run single in the top of the ninth, and the Bulldogs never looked back.
Slenker finished with three of Yale’s 11 hits and drove in two RBIs that were the tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth. Yale catcher Andrew Herrera was also instrumental in the Bulldogs’ victory by contributing four RBIs off two hits.
A win Sunday over Princeton would send the Yale to its fifth NCAA tournament in program history, and it would be the Bulldogs’ first tournament berth since 1994.
