DURHAM, N.C.  – Fresh off the series sweep of North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central University returns to the diamond on both Tuesday, April 8 on the road against Duke at 6:00 p.m. and Wednesday, April 9 at home against UNC Wilmington at 6:00 p.m.
 
NCCU (14-17-1, 9-5 MEAC) has won five straight and sits a half-game ahead of Bethune-Cookman in the MEAC's Southern Division. 
 
The maroon and gray are led offensively by senior Tyson Simpson (Burgaw, N.C.) who is sixth in the MEAC, tied for 47th in the nation in batting average at .381 with a home run and 28 RBI.  Senior Carter Williamson (Roanoke, Va.) is tied for No. 66 in the nation with 29 RBI on the year, which leads the conference.  The Eagles have three student-athletes in the top five in RBI with Simpson (28) and sophomore Christian Triplett (Wilkesboro, N.C.) having 26 on the year.
 
Tuesday's matchup against Duke will be meeting No. 13 between these two crosstown foes with the Blue Devils holding a 12-0 mark against NCCU since their first meeting on March 26, 2008.  The Eagles dropped both games last year 6-3 on March 12 at the DAP and 8-3 at Jack Coombs Field on April 10.
 
Duke is currently 17-16 overall, 7-8 in the ACC after being swept by Georgia Tech this past weekend.  Senior infielder Matt Berezo is hitting .381 on the year with three doubles and seven RBI, while Chris Marconcini has a team-high seven home runs and 29 RBI.
 
A pair of freshmen will take-the-hill on Tuesday as lefty Andrew Wilson (Pilot Mountain, N.C.) will make his second start of the year, while lefty Kevin Lewallyn (2-1, 3.72 ERA) makes his first career start for the Blue Devils.  Wilson (1-2, 6.68 ERA) has logged 29.2 innings with 27 strikeouts and 12 walks, while Lewallyn has thrown 9.2 innings with six strikeouts and five walks.
 
NCCU and UNC Wilmington have only met four times since the revival of the program with the Seahawks owning a 4-0 series lead.  In fact, the last meeting was April 28, 2009 as the Eagles dropped by games 10-3 and 14-0 in Wilmington, N.C.
 
The Seahawks are led by junior outfielder Luke Dunlap who tops the team batting .325 on the year, while his teammate Corey Dick leads the squad with four home runs and 25 RBI on the year.
 
Redshirt junior Eric Kimber (Greensboro, N.C.) will toe-the-rubber for the maroon and gray as the righty makes his third start of the year.  Kimber (2-0, 4.05 ERA) has logged 20.0 innings on the year and only allowed nine earned runs.  UNC Wilmington will send Bull City product senior righty Blaze Tart (0-0, 13.50 ERA) for his first start of the season.  Tart has worked 2.2 innings in four appearances this year.
 
Both contests will be broadcasted live on the NCCU Sports Network beginning at 5:45 p.m. as play-by-play voice Chris Hooks will call the action on both Tuesday and Wednesday.  Follow @NCCUAthletics on Twitter to get the latest information on each game.
 
Visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com or download the NCCU Sports Network app available in the App Store, Google Play and Amazon for the latest on NCCU Athletics.