No. 11 Duke Falls to No. 7 North Carolina on Friday

Friday, May 17

Durham, N.C.

2 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

No. 11 Duke Falls to No. 7 North Carolina on Friday

5/17/2024 5:56:00 PM | Baseball

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DURHAM – No. 7 North Carolina (40-12, 21-8 ACC) scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning on Friday to down No. 11 Duke (35-17, 16-13 ACC), 6-4, and level the series at Jack Coombs Field.

The Tar Heels opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, before Zac Morris gave Duke the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Morris crushed a three-run home run to left field, moving the score line to 3-1 in favor of the Blue Devils.

In the top of the fifth inning, Carolina jumped back on top, 4-3, before Logan Bravo hit a solo home run to left field to tie the game. With a pair of runners on in the top of the ninth, an error attempting to throw out the lead runner and a sacrifice fly, gave North Carolina the lead for good.

HOW IT HAPPENED

North Carolina opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, 1-0.
Zac Morris hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning, 3-1.
The Tar Heels regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning, 4-3.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Logan Bravo hit a solo home run to left field, 4-4.
Carolina took the lead in the top of the ninth inning, 6-4.

NOTES

Senior Alex Stone extended his hitting streak to 11 games on Friday, finishing the day 3-for-4. Stone now has produced 20 multi-hit contests and six three hit days.
Graduate Zac Morris collected his 15th home run of the season, a three-run shot to give Duke the lead in the bottom of the third inning. He finished the day 1-for-5 with three RBI.
Graduate Logan Bravo regained the team lead in home runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, hitting a solo shot for his 16th of the season. Bravo finished with a 2-for-3 line, a run scored, one RBI and a walk. It marked his 18th multi-hit contest of the season.
Junior Ryan Higgins worked four solid innings on the mound for Duke Friday, allowing one run on three hits and punching out five batters.

QUOTES

"First off, congratulations to Carolina on the outright regular season championship. They have had a great year. I told Scott before the game that I feel like they are the most complete club that we have played all year. We have played a bunch of really good clubs. Today was a really good baseball game. It was back and forth all day. I thought last night they made a couple of mistakes that gave us an offensive spark and today we made a few mistakes to give them a spark. When we force them to string together hits, outside of solo home runs, we have done a good job of containing a really good offense. In the two innings that they scored, the fifth and ninth, we gave them some help." – Head coach Chris Pollard on today's game against North Carolina.

UP NEXT

Duke and North Carolina complete the final game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon from Jack Coombs Field. First pitch is scheduled for noon.

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