Blue Devils Collect Fifth-Straight Win with Gritty Performance Over East Carolina

Tuesday, March 25

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

17-9

East Carolina

15-10

East Carolina

Duke

Blue Devils Collect Fifth-Straight Win with Gritty Performance Over East Carolina

3/26/2025 12:23:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. – Junior Tyler Albright drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning to score AJ Gracia from third, to help left Duke (17-9) to a 6-4 victory over East Carolina (15-10) on Tuesday evening at Jack Coombs Field.

With the win on Tuesday, Duke extends its winning streak to five games, the longest of the season.

East Carolina jumped on the Blue Devils in the first, scoring two runs to open the scoring, 2-0. Freshman Max Stammel started his first collegiate game on Tuesday, working 0.2 innings and allowing two runs on two hits. He did not factor into the decision, as junior Gabe Nard picked up the freshman to limit the damage and get off the field in the first.

In the bottom half of the inning, Ben Miller doubled to right center field to score Wallace Clark, before Macon Winslow tallied his first of two sacrifice flies to score Jake Berger from third, 2-2. Nard picked up where he left off in the first, working the next two innings clean, allowing two hits and punching out two batters.

Duke took the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Winslow once again flew out to center field to score Berger and give the Blue Devils a 3-2 advantage. They continued to add to the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Miller reached on an infield single to score Gracia from third, and Clark laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Berger, 5-2.

The Blue Devils bullpen continued to shine on Tuesday, as Ryan Calvert, Mark Hindy, Kyle Johnson, James Tallon, and Reid Easterly worked the final six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six batters. Easterly picked up his fourth save of the season, allowing one hit in the final frame to shut down the Pirates.

HOW IT HAPPENED

East Carolina opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, 2-0.
In the bottom of the first inning, Ben Miller doubled to right center field to score Wallace Clark from second. Macon Winslow hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Jake Berger from third, 2-2.
Duke took the lead in the bottom of the third inning as Winslow punched a sacrifice fly to center field to score Berger from third, 3-2.
The Blue Devils added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Miller reached on an infield single to score AJ Gracia from third. Clark laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Berger from third, 5-2.
The Pirates cut into the Duke lead in the top of the seventh inning, 5-4.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Tyler Albright drew a bases-loaded walk, 6-4.

NOTES

Freshman Max Stammel made his first collegiate start on Tuesday against the Pirates, working 0.2 innings and allowing two runs to cross. Stammel did not factor into the decision.
Senior Wallace Clark extended his reached base safely streak to 26 games, drawing a leadoff walk to start the home half and tallying a hit later in the ballgame.
Graduate Ben Miller finished the day 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI against East Carolin. Miller extended his hitting streak to nine games, the longest active on the team, pushing his multi-hit tally to 11.
Graduate Jake Berger also tallied three hits in the victory on Tuesday, collecting three runs scored to lead the Blue Devils. Berger extended his hitting streak to eight games and also recorded two RBI.
Junior Gabe Nard earned the win in relief, working 2.1 innings on the mound. Nard allowed two hits and struck out two batters during his outing, improving to 3-1 on the season.
Graduate Reid Easterly recorded his fourth save of the season, allowing one hit in the final frame of work.
Junior Tyler Albright finished the evening 1-for-1, driving in a key insurance run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning. Albright's lone RBI came off one of his three walks Tuesday, tying his career-high for a game which he set last Sunday at Virginia.

QUOTES

"We had great at-bats up and down the lineup again today. The guys on the mound stepped up left and right. It was another great outing by Ryan Calvert, and I can't say enough about the job James Tallon did to come in and get us off the field in the emphatic eighth. It is great to see him look like the Tallon who we saw be an All-American here." – Head coach Chris Pollard on the grit of the team to pull out the victory Tuesday.
"We knew it was going to be a bullpen day, and we felt like we were going to get two innings out of Max Stammel. It felt like a good decision in the spot we were in to make a change and go to the right-hander, and Gabe Nard got us off the field and got us two clean behind it. Everybody else from that point just stepped up and did their job." – On the success the bullpen has had picking up each other on the mound.