BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech's JD Mundy, who had come off the bench just two innings prior and delivered a pinch-hit single in the ninth, stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning and runners on first and second.
Ninth-ranked Duke had just intentionally walked Stevie Mangrum in the tied contest to set up the lefty-lefty match-up with its pitcher Matt Dockman against Mundy.
With a full count, Mundy launched a ball deep into left-center field and Nick Menken raced around third to score the game-winning run as the Hokies knocked off the Blue Devils, 4-3, on Friday night in ACC action at English Field at Union Park.
Tech (18-24, 8-14 ACC), who has had its share of walk-off defeats – four of its last eight losses have been of that variety – took control of the game early by scoring two runs in the first. Sam Fragale doubled home Jack Owens and Menken hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Tom Stoffel.
Duke (31-11, 13-8 ACC) cut the lead in half with a single run in the fifth frame as Kennie Taylor brought Jack Labosky home on a grounder.
That was the only run allowed by freshman Ian Seymour, who tossed a season-high tying seven innings, scattered five hits and struck out seven Blue Devils. He's now struck out 47 ACC batters this year, more than any other Hokie freshman pitcher in Tech's 14 years in the league (Mathew Price, 41, 2009).
The Hokies got an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a mammoth home run off the bat of Mangrum – measured at 413 feet – that may also have prompted the intentional pass in the 11th.
However, Duke got a clutch hit from Griffin Conine in the top of the eighth as he plated a pair with a two-out double that tied the game at 3-3.
Neither team would get a base runner to second base the rest of the way, until the final inning. Defensively, Joe Freiday, Jr. ended the top of the 10th and 11th by gunning down a would-be base stealer in each frame.
Inside the Box
- Fragale – double, 12th of the year, 41st of his career; extended his hitting streak to a personal-best 13 straight games, which is also a team-long for the year; two hits, 14th multi-hit game of the season, 52nd of his career.
- Mangrum – home run, fourth of the season, seventh of his career.
- Mundy – pinch-hit single in the ninth, his third career pinch hit; two hits, sixth multi-hit game of the year, 11th of his career.
- Seymour – team-high sixth quality start of the year; six scoreless innings pitched, team-high 51 for the year; three were perfect, 17 for the season.
- Joey Sullivan – one scoreless inning pitched, 21 for the season, 84 in his career.
- J. Owens – two hits, 11th multi-hit game this season, 35th of his career.
- Stoffel – single in the first extended his hitting streak to a personal-best eight straight games; hit-by-pitch twice, has been hit 10 times this season, and 33 times in his career – the most ever for a Tech player as a member of the ACC.
Additional Notes
- Tech won its second game this season over a Top 10-ranked team, as the Hokies also beat No. 6 NC State on March 29.
- The Hokies turned their 37th double play of the year in the game. It was behind Seymour, his sixth GDP of the season.
- On this date, Tech is 15-3 at home, including wins in its last four. They are also now 4-2 in ACC games on April 27.
- The Hokies are now 3-3 in extra-inning games this season.
- This was Tech's third walk-off win of the season.
Up Next
- Tech will continue its ACC weekend series against the ninth-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. First pitch of Game 2 at English Field at Union Park is set for 3 p.m. The game will be highlighted with the celebration of 125 seasons of Tech baseball with recognition of players pregame.
Tickets
- For fans looking to attend any of the three games in the ACC series against Duke – or any of Tech's upcoming ACC contests – please be aware tickets are required for all ACC games at English Field at Union Park. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets in advance.