CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The No. 17 nationally-ranked Duke Blue Devils rode the performances of Andrew Healy, James Tallon and Tim Noone on the mound and four home runs, including a grand slam from Zac Morris, to an 8-1 win over No. 12 NC State in the nightcap on Thursday at the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Duke starting pitcher Healy (3-1) threw 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four Wolfpack hitters. Tallon, who entered the game in the sixth, gave up one hit and walked one over 2.0 scoreless innings, while Noone surrendered one run on three hits and one strikeout over the final 2.0 innings.
At the plate for the No. 6-seeded Blue Devils, Morris provided the big pop with the grand slam and four RBI, while Devin Obee, Chase Krewson and AJ Gracia all homered and combined to drive in the other four runs in the win.
No. 3-seeded NC State totaled five hits on the night, four of which were singles from Eli Serrano III, Alex Sosa and Alec Makarewicz, who had two base hits on the night, while Jacob Cozart spoiled the shutout bid with an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth.
In what started as a pitchers’ duel with the first hit of the game not coming until the bottom of the fourth inning from NC State’s Serrano III, the Blue Devils’ offense broke through in a big way in the top half of the fifth inning with three home runs to pull out in front 6-0.
Krewson led off the big inning with a solo home run to left field to put the first run on the scoreboard. Following two singles and a walk to load the bases, Morris hit a grand slam to left-center field, clearing the bases to extend the lead to 5-0. Two batters later, Gracia lined a home run over the wall in left field to give the Blue Devils a 6-0 lead.
The home-run barrage continued in the top of the sixth inning as Obee hit a two-run home run that just got over the wall upon an umpire’s review to extend the lead to 8-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Duke loaded the bases in the top of the eighth inning and attempted to add to its lead only to see NC State’s right fielder Noah Soles make a diving catch on a sinking line drive in the right-center field gap to end the inning and keep the score at 8-0.
The Wolfpack stranded one runner in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth on a Makarewicz single and RBI double from Cozart to put the final score at 8-1.
Duke (37-18) will now take on No. 11 seed Miami (27-29) in the second semifinal game on Saturday, May 25, at 5 p.m. on ACC Network.
