LEADING OFF
Halfway through a stretch of eight-straight road games, Duke takes on crosstown foe North Carolina Central at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 27 at the Durham Athletic Park ... Duke posted a 3-1 record this past week and improved to 23-18 (9-12 ACC) on the year ... NCCU sits at 21-22 overall (8-10 MEAC) and travels to Elon Tuesday before taking on the Blue Devils ... Fans unable to attend Wednesday's contest can listen to the Blue Devil Network broadcast via GoDuke.com free of charge.

QUICK HITS
• After beginning the season 10-13, the Blue Devils are 13-5 over their past 18 games ... During that span, seven Blue Devils are hitting .300 or better: Justin Bellinger (.383), Zack Kone (.366), Jimmy Herron (.354), Jack Labosky (.338), Chris Proctor (.328), Michael Smiciklas (.306) and Peter Zyla (.300) ... Duke owns a .302 batting average over its past 18 games, 64 points higher than its average through the first 23 games (.238).
• Three freshmen lead the team in batting average: Jimmy Herron (.322), Zack Kone (.321) and Chris Proctor (.300) ... That trio is hitting a combined .316 (131-for-415) on the year.
• Freshman Jimmy Herron has reached base in a team-best 15 straight games ... He is hitting .393 (22-for-56) with eight doubles, a triple, nine RBI, 15 runs scored and five stolen bases in that span.
• Sophomore Jack Labosky leads the team in seven offensive categories: slugging percentage (.514), runs (27), RBI (34), doubles (16), home runs (5), walks (24) and times hit by pitch (8) ... He leads the ACC in doubles.
• Since entering the starting lineup March 27, sophomore Justin Bellinger is hitting a team-best .383 (23-for-60) with seven doubles, four home runs, 21 RBI and 17 runs scored.
• With a 498-412-3 record in 16 seasons as a head coach, Chris Pollard is two wins shy of reaching 500 for his career.
• Duke must win seven of its final 14 games to reach 30 wins for the third straight season.

DUKE vs. NCCU
Duke and North Carolina Central meet for the 19th time in program history Wednesday ... The Blue Devils own an 18-0 all-time record against the Eagles ... The two teams first met March 26, 2008, a 10-2 Duke victory ... Most recently, Duke and NCCU squared off April 13, 2016 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park ... Six Duke pitchers combined on the 3-0 shutout while freshman Chris Proctor was 2-for-3 with two RBI to pace the offense.

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