East Carolina Drops Close One At Duke

Tuesday, March 25

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

15-10

Duke

17-9

East Carolina

Duke

March 26, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – East Carolina put the tying run on base in the ninth inning Tuesday night but could not push anything across in a 6-4 setback to host Duke at Jack Coombs Field.

The Pirates (15-10) logged nine hits, including four off the bat of leadoff hitter Braden Burress, but were just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position as the teams combined to leave 20 runners on base.

Braxton Tramel also registered a pair of hits for ECU while Jake Berger and Ben Miller both rapped out three base knocks each for the homestanding Blue Devils (17-9).

Jake Hunter (1-2) was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs on three hits in 2.0 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. Gabe Nard (3-1) was the winner in relief with a 2.1 scoreless inning effort. Reid Easterly tossed the last frame and surrendered just one hit to lock down his fourth save of the campaign.

Burress put the Pirates in business right away with a leadoff single in the top of the first and Dixon Williams followed with a walk. After Colby Wallace moved the runners into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt, Tramel singled on the infield to plate Burress for the game's first run. Walker Barron then singled up the middle with two away to send Williams across and leave East Carolina in front by a pair.

Duke would answer with two of their own in the home half of the first before taking the lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a Macon Winslow sacrifice fly. The Blue Devils then widened their advantage to 5-2 with a two spot in the fourth.

After Kenan Bowman laced a one-out single to right field in the top of the seventh, Burress connected on a 2-1 offering and sent it over the wall down the left field line to draw the Pirates within 5-4. Williams then doubled to left center, but a pair of strikeouts left him stranded.

The home side tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth after getting runners to the corners with no outs, but Nick Moran and Lance Williams held the Blue Devils to just one run to keep the deficit at two. With two outs and no one on base in the top of the ninth, Burress shot a single through the right side and Williams was hit by a pitch. However, a fielder's choice force out at second ended the game.

East Carolina saw its lead in the all-time series with Duke reduced to 42-16-1.
The Pirates fell to 2-3 in true road games this season.
Burress is the first ECU player to record a four-hit effort this season and the first since Jacob Jenkins-Cowart collected four versus Rice back on May 17, 2024.
The Blue Devils put seven of their eight leadoff hitters on base.
Burress has now hit safely in nine-straight games while Williams has reached base in 21 consecutive outings.

Up Next: East Carolina resumes American Athletic Conference play with a three-game set at Rice March 28-30.