Blue Devils Blank No. 9 East Carolina on Tuesday

Tuesday, February 28

Durham, N.C.

4 PM

Duke University

6-2

East Carolina

5-2

East Carolina

Duke

Blue Devils Blank No. 9 East Carolina on Tuesday

2/28/2023 7:53:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Coach Pollard Postgame Interview Photo Gallery

DURHAM – Duke Baseball (6-2) three-hit the No. 9 East Carolina Pirates (5-2), to earn the Tuesday victory, 9-0 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Graduate transfer Alex Gow gave the Blue Devils a four-inning, no-hit outing to start the ballgame, to pick up his first win in a Duke uniform. The shutout on Tuesday is the first this season since the season opener against Saint Joseph's.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke Baseball grabbed an early 1-0 lead when freshman Andrew Fischer hit a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, freshman Owen Proksch shutdown the Pirates threat, leaving the bases loaded with a strikeout to end the frame.
The Blue Devils added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, as junior Jay Beshears hit his first home run in a Blue Devils' uniform, a grand slam to left field over the Blue Monster, making it 5-0. Later in the inning, graduate student Giovanni DiGiacomo singled up the middle to plate a pair, after a walk and wild pitch scored a run, to extend the lead to 9-0.
Duke's pitching staff threw a combined no-hitter into the seventh inning, before the Pirates grounded into their third double play of the night.

NOTES

Freshman Andrew Fischer hit his first collegiate home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, when a fly ball to right field was deflected over the wall for a solo home run.
Graduate transfer Alex Gow worked four innings of no-hit baseball for the Blue Devils, earning his first victory in a Duke uniform.
Junior Jay Beshears hit his first home run in a Duke uniform on Tuesday, a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning, as part of an eight-run frame.
The eight-run fifth inning was the first for the Blue Devils since May 1, 2022, when Duke scored eight runs in the eighth against High Point.
The Duke pitching staff combined for 6.1 no-hit innings to begin Tuesday's contest. The no-hitter was broken up in the seventh, on a single to right field.
ECU had not grounded into a double play all season before grounding into three on Tuesday. The last time Duke turned three double plays in a game was on March 9, 2022 against Liberty.

QUOTES

"Alex Gow set a tone early and executed three pitches for strikes. I thought the job by Owen Proksch, staying tough and in the moment against a really good hitter with the bases loaded to get us off the field was huge. Weaver was electric and his stuff was really good. I thought we pitched well and defended well." – Head coach Chris Pollard on the three-hitter against No. 9 East Carolina Tuesday.
"We did some things to be able to take advantage of their mistakes tonight. I felt like we worked ourselves into some free offense tonight. We were hitting in a really small zone and didn't have any chase. We were able to set some baserunners up and used the bunt when we had to." – On the offensive attack for the fourth game in a row.

UP NEXT

Duke continues its 18-game home stand this weekend when they host Princeton for a three-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

For more information on Duke Baseball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeBASE".

#GoDuke