Box Score
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The Wildcats scored two runs to tie the game in the eighth inning before
Chase FitzPatrick drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, lifting Davidson to a 3-2 win over the Duke Blue Devils Tuesday night in mid-week action at Wilson Field.
Danny Weiss delivered a two-out base hit into right and pinch runner
Calvin Sigelbaum scored from first on FitzPatrick’s double to end the game.
Matt Webb (4-2) earned the win for Davidson (18-25), retiring his only batter of the night, but
Brian Russell put the Wildcats in a winning position, allowing just two hits in two innings of shutout relief with a pair of strikeouts. Starter
Ryan Overcash scattered six hits for one run, but did not factor into the decision.
Kyle Butler (2-1) took the loss for the Blue Devils (29-18), allowing one run on two hits in 2/3 of an inning.
Duke struck first, getting across a run in the second on an RBI-single from Jake Lemmerman as Alex Hassan scored from second.
Zach Kayne’s double in the third inning was his 21st of the season, tying the all-time single season record held by Eli Benefield from 2005. Kayne led the Wildcats at the plate, batting 3-for-5, while FitzPatrick drove in a game-high two runs.
Overcash got into a bit of a jam in the sixth, giving up back-to-back, one-out singles to Matt Williams and Nate Freeman. But he sat the next batter down on strikes and got a pop out to end the inning and strand a pair.
Duke added a run in the seventh, as Jake Lemmerman got a base-hit off
Mike Frongello, who entered in relief of Overcash to start the inning. Frongello got a groundout from the next batter, but Will Piwinica-Worms’ offering got past
James Cerbie and into right field to send in a run.
The Blue Devils threatened in the eighth, but a diving one-out catch by Kayne held the runner at third before Russell entered to get the final pop out.
Kayne recorded the third Wildcat hit of the night, a base hit into right, and took second on a wild pitch to start the Wildcat scoring in the eighth.
Drew Gadaire’s single bumped him to third, and Weiss walked to load the bases. FitzPatrick’s fielder’s choice to the short stop sent in Kayne, and a throwing error at second allowed Gadaire to score the tying run.
Russell got back-to-back strikeouts to start the ninth, before allowing a single to Ryan McCurdy. But
Brett Shore speared a pop up from Gabriel Saade to strand a runner, and the Wildcats went down without a fight in the bottom of the inning.
Butler started the 10th for Duke and got first-pitch groundouts from Kayne and Gadaire before giving up a base hit to Weiss. Sigelbaum entered to pinch run and scored the winning run from first as FitzPatrick doubled down the left field line.
Davidson will return to action tomorrow, hosting Virginia Tech at 6 p.m. at Wilson Field.