Moore pitched a four-hitter, striking out 18 batters, and Boger drove in two early runs as top-seeded Rowan downed No. 8 Mocksville-Davie 3-1 in a pitcher’s duel at Newman Park.

Coach Jim DeHart’s Rowan club (17-7) goes after a second straight win in the best-of-five series at 7 p.m. today at Mocksville’s Rich Park. Game 3 is scheduled at Newman Park on Wednesday.

Moore, a lanky left-hander, shut out the visitors on three hits over the first eight innings, then lost his bid for a shutout when Mocksville scored an unearned run in the ninth inning. He struck out the side in both the third and fifth innings and fanned five in a row at one stretch.

His 18-strikeout performance was his best ever for Ks. The club record of 24 is held by Brian Boltz, who went on to pitch in the Atlanta Braves’ farm system.

‘‘I don’t worry too much about shutouts or strikeouts or anything like that,’’ said Moore, a North Rowan High School product. ‘‘The only thing that matters to me is wins and losses. Especially in the playoffs, you’ve got to come out and get on top of the series. If you start off 0-1, it’s real tough to come back, no matter how long the series is.’’

Rowan has a chance to eliminate Mocksville in the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. Rowan has won 17 of its last 18 games against Mocksville, losing only at Rich Park on May 26.

Left-hander Victor Patti, who pitched Mocksville to its 11-6 win over Rowan in that contest, also pitched Monday and pitched well. He allowed seven hits and five walks while striking out nine batters.

Boger, however, went deep on Patti in the third inning for a two-run homer that gave Rowan a 2-0 lead, and that was all Moore needed. Rowan added an insurance run in the seventh, helped by a Boger single.

Boger, the designated hitter for only the second time this season, said, ‘‘It felt good. Coach let me hit the last game I pitched. I guess I’m getting back in the swing of it, seeing some live pitching.’’

A starting pitcher for Rowan, Boger hit six home runs for North Rowan while pitching and playing third base during the high school season, but Monday’s shot of about 375 feet over the scoreboard in left-center was the first of his Legion career.

‘‘Daniel pitched a good ballgame. We were trying to get some runs scored behind him,’’ said Boger. ‘‘That one was good,’’ he said of the home run. ‘‘It came at a good time.’’

‘‘Boger came through for us in a big way,’’ said DeHart. ‘‘We DH’ed him tonight. That was a big two-run home run. Two runs for Daniel is a lot.’’

DeHart had mixed emotions about Moore’s 18 strikeouts.

‘‘I like the strikeouts, but it takes a lot of pitches. He got in trouble two or three times and worked himself out of it,’’ said DeHart.

Mocksville loaded the bases on one hit in the fourth inning, then again in the seventh, when Moore allowed a walk and hit a batter.

‘‘I thought his concentration level got a little better when he got the bases loaded,’’ DeHart pointed out. ‘‘We had an error, a walk and a base hit (fourth inning) to load the bases. Just like that, we were in trouble.’’

Moore struck out Patti and got Ryan Desnoyer to fly out to center fielder Paul Black to leave the bases loaded in the fourth. Then, in the seventh, he struck out Andrew Daywalt with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Moore was also in a tough situation in the sixth, when he walked Skip Crider and Drew Ridenhour with one out. That brought smooth-swinging left-handed hitter Steve LeFaivre to the plate. LeFaivre, hitting .414 with seven homers and 35 RBIs, hit sharply to shortstop Calvin Hayes Jr. for a double play that ended the threat.

‘‘I threw him an outside fastball. He hit it pretty hard,’’ said Moore. ‘‘I can’t say enough about Calvin, the things he’s been doing at shortstop. He’s just a great player. ... It wasn’t the greatest pitch I threw, but it was the biggest play for us. It kind of kept their momentum down.’’

Moore said of LeFaivre and another top Mocksville hitter, Ridenhour (nine homers, 33 RBIs, .338 average), ‘‘They’re real tough. You’ve just got to concentrate and make your best pitch. If you leave one up in the zone on any kind of pitch, they’re just going to rip it. I gave LeFaivre a 2-0 fastball (second inning) and he did what good hitters do: He hit it right back at me (to center field).’’

LeFaivre went 2-for-4 to lead the visitors (9-15) at the plate. Ridenhour went 0-for-2 and walked twice.

Boger, Nathan Woodburn and Hatley each went 2-for-3 to lead Rowan’s hitting. Black drove in the seventh-inning insurance run with a sacrifice fly after Boger’s single had advanced Woodburn from first to third.