DURHAM, N.C. — After four innings of scoreless play, 14th-ranked Duke University scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to secure an 8-0 non-conference victory over the North Carolina Central University softball team on Thursday evening.
 
Junior pitcher Shelby Walters (6-0) tossed the first no hitter in program history for the Blue Devils, facing the minimum over her five innings of work.
 
Senior Tamiera Sanchez was hit by a pitch just two batters into the game to eliminate the perfect game consideration early, but she was then erased from the base paths on an ensuing double play. Walters retired the last 13 Eagles in order, including three strikeouts.
 
NCCU senior starting pitcher Kiara Hurley (0-7) kept Duke off the scoreboard in the first four innings, but she was unable to retire a batter in the fifth. All eight Blue Devils that batted in the inning scored, including a walk-off, two-run homer by senior pinch hitter Sydney Bolan.
 
Duke (13-1 Overall) has won eight straight games and is ranked in the top-20 of all four major national polls, including No. 14 in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. 
 
The Blue Devils finished with eight hits with sophomore Kamryn Jackson and junior Kyla Morris both hitting safely twice. Jackson drove in three runs.
 
NC Central (0-10) will next host Appalachian State University in a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m.