DURHAM, N.C.- (NCCUEaglePride.com) - The North Carolina Central University baseball looks to end their season opening four-game homestand on a high note as the Diamond Eagles battle crosstown foe Duke University on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m. at historic Durham Athletic Park.
NCCU (0-3) is coming off a tough weekend series against Temple that showed the Eagle faithful that the future was bright. Out of the top six hitters on the team after three games, there is only one junior and one sophomore, the rest are freshman. Superb backstop Carter Williamson (Roanoke, Va.) finished the three-game set 6-for-11 at the dish with three RBIs and only struck out once to begin his NCCU career with a .545 batting average. Dylan Drayton (Raleigh, N.C.) finished the weeknd 5-for-15 with three runs scored a double and two RBIs, while Troy Marrow (Lutherville, Md.) went 3-for-9 (.333) two runs scored along with a double and a RBI. Tyson Simpson, Jr (Rocky Point, N.C.) cranked the lone homer of the weekend, his first collegiate dinger to right field, and he also went 2-for-6 with two RBIs in his first three games.
Not to be overshadowed, junior Akeem Hood (Raleigh, N.C.) came on strong in Sunday’s series finale with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with a double and a run scored, while outfield teammate Nate Smith (Raleigh, N.C.) ended up 5-for-13 (.385) in three games with a double three runs scored along with a RBI and a stolen base.
Duke and NCCU have met on seven previous occasions with the Blue Devils winning every game in the series. In fact, Duke’s defense has been so stellar in this series, the Eagles have yet to plate more than three runs against the Blue Devils in those seven games.
The Diamond Eagles will send senior right handed hurler Douglas Dalley to the hill on Wednesday afternoon, as the Bull City native threw just one inning of action over the weekend against Temple and looks to be ready to take on the opponent from down the road. Last season, Dalley pitched two innings of relief and did not allow a run in the 11-2 loss on March 31, 2010.
The Blue Devils enter Wednesday’s matchup with a 2-1 record after disposing of the Richmond Spiders in their first series of the year. Head coach Sean McNally used a combined nine newcomers during the three-game series including the quartet of third baseman Jordan Betts, outfielders Chris Marconcini and Jordan Betts and shortstop Angelo LaBruna, who started all three games.
Betts and Marconcini both rank among the top three on the team in batting average with Betts hitting .417 and Marconcini batting .400. Marconcini, a 6-5, 200-pound native of Brentwood, Tenn., came through in the clutch several times for Duke over the weekend, most notably when he drove in the tying and winning runs with a two-out, two-strike single in the bottom of the ninth inning in Friday’s 6-5 win over Richmond. Betts, meanwhile, had multiple hits in each of Duke’s first two games and trails only sophomore catcher Ryan Munger (.500) for Duke’s highest batting average through three games.
This is the first of two meetings this season with NCCU traveling over to the newly renovated Jack Coombs Field on Tuesday, March 15 at 3:15 p.m.
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