East Carolina Rallies Past Duke, 8-6

Tuesday, March 22

Durham Bulls Athletic Park

6:00 PM

Duke University

East Carolina

Baseball Drops Series Opener at No. 21 Georgia Tech

East Carolina Rallies Past Duke, 8-6

3/22/2016 10:38:00 PM | Baseball

BASE vs. ECU: Audio Archive BASE vs. ECU: Perez Belts Two Doubles BASE vs. ECU: Phillips Two-Run Single BASE vs. ECU: Pollard Interview Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Aided by four East Carolina errors, Duke built a three-run lead but could not hold off the Pirates in the end, falling 8-6 in non-conference action Tuesday evening at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Duke (10-11) led 6-3 after the fifth before East Carolina (14-7) scored five runs over the seventh and eighth frames to regain the advantage.

A back-and-forth game throughout, the two teams traded runs over the early going. The Pirate offense heated up late as East Carolina totaled 10 of its 15 hits from the sixth through the eighth innings while Duke had just one baserunner – a Griffin Conine eighth-inning walk -- during that span. The Blue Devils escaped a bases loaded jam in the sixth, but the Pirates got two runs in the seventh and took the lead with a three-run eighth. Five of ECU's 10 hits in that stretch came in two-strike counts.

“We just didn't get the pitches to the spots we needed to in those counts,” said head coach Chris Pollard. “Not taking anything away from what [East Carolina] did. At the same time, we have to execute to our spots. If we do that and give up a hit, we tip our hat to them.”

Redshirt junior Jalen Phillips went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while junior Cris Perez was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI to pace the Blue Devils.

Travis Watkins and Zack Mozingo had three hits each for the Pirates. Watkins knocked in three RBI and scored a run, while Mozingo added one RBI and one run scored.

East Carolina began the scoring with a lone first-inning run. With two away, Kirk Morgan sent a soft single to the right center gap, scoring Charlie Yorgen who singled earlier in the inning.

Duke countered with a first-inning run of its own. Jimmy Herron's leadoff double got the inning started and a Pirate throwing error on a Max Miller sacrifice bunt allowed the Blue Devils' first run to score.

Watkins' two-out RBI single in the third put the Pirates back on top briefly before Duke grabbed its first lead of the game in the bottom half. Jack Labosky had an RBI groundout and Perez lined a two-out RBI double to put Duke up, 3-2.

Turner Brown's RBI single in the fourth once again tied the score before Duke added two more runs in the bottom half. Phillips delivered the key two-run base hit to re-establish the Blue Devil advantage, 5-3.

Duke's margin extended to 6-3 the following frame as ECU's fourth error of the game allowed Laboksy – who doubled to lead off the fifth – to score from second.

Coleman entered to start the sixth and stymied the Duke offense. Mozingo and Bryce Harman drove in a run each in the seventh to pull the Pirates within one. East Carolina received three eighth-inning singles – all in two-strike counts – and a Watkins two-run double to take a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.

Senior Nick Hendrix (1-1) suffered the loss. Hendrix entered in the seventh and pitched 1.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. ECU reliever Cam Coleman (2-0) earned the win after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings.

Next up, Duke hits the road for a three-game series at Wake Forest Friday-Sunday, March 25-27 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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