Duke Smothers Texas A&M in First Round of Morgantown Regional 8-5

The #3 Duke Blue Devils jumped on top of the #2 seed Texas A&M Aggies in the opening game of the Morgantown Regional. Duke pitcher Ben Gross kept the Aggies off balance for 7 innings, yielding only 4 hits and striking out five.

Duke hit two homeruns in the game, the first coming in the 4th inning when thirdbaseman Nichols drove a one-out pitch over the fence to break a 1-1 tie and put the Blue Devila up 4-1.

The second came in the 8th inning when pinch hitting designated hitter Maxwell put another 3-run shot on the board and gave the Blue Devils an 8-1 lead.

The Blue Devils will play the winner of tonight's West Virginia-Fordham matchup while the Aggies will fight for their playoff lives againat the loser.