ECU Hosts No. 10 Duke In Nonconference Twinbill

Games 32-33: No. 10 Duke at East Carolina
Coverage	March 30: 4:00 p.m. \| vs. No. 10 Duke \| Live Stats \| Watch March 30: 6:30 p.m. \| vs. No. 10 Duke \| Live Stats \| Watch
Venue	Max R. Joyner Family Stadium \| Greenville, N.C.
Statistics	East Carolina \| Duke
Social Media	@ECUSoftball (Twitter) \\\ Instagram \\\ #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After winning its first American Athletic Conference series of the season last weekend, East Carolina returns home to face off with No. 10 Duke in a nonconference doubleheader Wednesday evening at Max R. Joyner Family Stadium. The Blue Devils represent the Pirates' first nationally-ranked opponent of the campaign.

First pitch for game one is scheduled for 4 p.m. and both contests will be streamed live via ESPN+.

ECU (18-13) lost a one-run lead late in the series opener with Memphis, falling 9-8, but responded with consecutive 12-5 and 7-4 victories to claim the set. The offense was in midseason form throughout the weekend as the Pirates outscored the Tigers 27-18 and hit .369 as a team with seven doubles, two triples and four home runs.

Sophomore infielder Jocelyn Alonso put together a phenomenal weekend in Memphis, batting .556 (5-for-9) with four runs scored and eight RBI. She also notched a 1.805 OPS on the way to earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Week accolades. Alonso currently ranks second on the squad in batting average (.344) and slugging percentage (.500).

ECU is third among American Conference programs in batting average (.297), earned run average (3.63), slugging percentage (.430), on base percentage (.381), runs scored (179), RBI (150) and stolen bases (56). The Pirates also lead the circuit and slot 14th nationally in doubles (50).

The Competition
Duke (23-5) enters Wednesday's doubleheader off an 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference loss to Notre Dame on March 25 in South Bend, Ind. The Blue Devils and Fighting Irish were unable to complete the scheduled three-game series due to inclement weather. Duke's prolific offense ranks sixth nationally in slugging percentage (.618), seventh in home runs per game (1.75) and 14th in batting average (.329). Jameson Kavel tops the squad in batting average (.398) while Peyton St. George has tossed a team-high 82 innings in the circle with a 13-2 record, 1.79 earned run average and 114 strikeouts against 17 walks.

The Duke Series
East Carolina and Duke have met just twice on the softball diamond. The Pirates won the initial encounter by a 4-1 margin back on March 21, 2018 at the then-named ECU Softball Stadium in the Blue Devils' first season as a program. Duke responded in 2019 with a 4-1 victory over East Carolina in Durham.

Looking Ahead
ECU resumes American Athletic Conference play April 1-3 with a three-game home series against South Florida.

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Players Mentioned

Jocelyn Alonso

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