ECU lose to No. 24 Duke on the road, looks to bounce back at Maryland

The No. 14 ranked East Carolina University baseball team traveled to Durham, North Carolina to play No. 24 ranked Duke University and came out with a tough 7-2 loss on Tuesday.

The Pirates (12-6) were coming off a four game winning streak and a three-game weekend series sweep against Marist College after a very challenging spring break schedule. The game against Duke was the first one of a four game trip that the team will have on the road during this week, including a weekend series against the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.

Duke started the game off with one of the best innings of the season, as junior infielder Erikson Nichols earned an RBI and teammate senior outfielder Kennie Taylor scored the first run of the ballgame, giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead. This was then followed by sophomore catcher Michael Rothenberg advancing from third to home base, scoring another run for the Blue Devils.

The scoring continued for Duke, as freshman right-handed pitcher/infielder Ethan Murray singled through the right side, getting an RBI and helping his teammate score another run to go up three runs to none on the Pirates.

The Blue Devils then had another at-bat opportunity, which freshman outfielder R.J. Schreck would take advantage of, earning two RBIs and hitting a double to right center, making the score 5-0 at the end of the first inning.

The Pirates were held scoreless until the top of the third inning when senior infielder Turner Brown connected on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on an error, opening up the chance for freshman infielder Ryder Giles to score the first run of the day for ECU.

ECU then managed to score another run in the top of the fifth inning, as sophomore left-handed pitcher/first baseman Alec Burleson singled to left field, earning an RBI when Giles scored once again, this time putting the scoreboard 5-2. Although that would be the last score put up for ECU, the Blue Devils were not done yet and would score two more runs throughout the ballgame.

Duke scored a run off an RBI single to right field and Taylor made the score 6-2 during the bottom of the seventh. During the Blue Devils’ last inning batting on the day, Murray scored on a double to right center by teammate graduate outfielder Kyle Gallagher, putting the icing on the cake for Duke. ECU lost by a total score of 7-2, losing its four game winning streak.

ECU will have a chance to get back on track against the University of Maryland for a three game weekend series starting on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

The last time these two teams met was in 2018 when Maryland came to Greenville on March 16. The Pirates swept the Terrapins 3-0 at home winning games with scores of 4-0, 18-4 and 4-0.

The first game of the series will start on Friday at 6:30 p.m., the second game will be on Saturday at 2 p.m and the final game will begin on Sunday at 1 p.m. This will be the first time the Pirates will play a three game series on the road this season and will look to bring their road record to 4-3 overall.