GREENVILLE — With an 8-6 nonconference win over Duke on Tuesday night, East Carolina swept a 5-game homestand to improve to 21-12-1.

The Pirates had also scored eight runs in a 9-8 walk-off loss to the Blue Devils in Durham on March 24. The Pirates established an early lead and were boosted by solid pitching from Ryan Towers (3-1) and Sean Jenkins (fifth save) in the second meeting.

Braden Burress led off the bottom of the first with a home run to set the tone and the Pirates extended the lead to 7-0 through five innings.

Towers started and pitched five and two-thirds innings with no hits.

Davin Whitaker scored on a ground out by Colby Wallace for a 2-0 Pirates lead in the first.

Jack Herring had a run-scoring double  in the third and ECU went up, 4-0, when Herring came home on a ground out by Jeff Sabater.

The Pirates scored three runs in the fifth as Herring had an RBI double, Walker Barron hit a sacrifice fly and Sabater came in on an error.

Towers ran into some trouble in the sixth as a walk and an error were sandwiched around two strikeouts. The call to the bullpen went to Ethan Rose, who hit a batter to load the bases.

The Blue Devils scored five runs in the sixth. Matthew Strand had a 2-run single to close the book on Towers. The lefty was charged with two runs although neither was earned. He walked three and struck out five.

Duke pulled within 7-3 on an RBI double by Collin Anderson and a 2-run single by Michael DeMartini cut ECU’s advantage to 7-5. Joe Webb came in to get the last out of the frame on a pop up to first baseman Austin Irby.

Webb threw a scoreless seventh. The Pirates left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning.

Duke trailed, 7-6, after an RBI single by Strand in the eighth. ECU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Matthew Lashley.

Jenkins recorded three strikeouts to end the game after Duke got two runners aboard in the ninth.

“Ryan Towers was awesome,” said Coach Cliff Godwin on the Pirate radio network. “We took him out because he had thrown 82 pitches, which is far more than he had thrown before by far.

“I told the guys, ‘Nothing at East Carolina is easy.’ Sean was being Sean and got out of that jam in the ninth inning.

“The team continues to grow. Very proud of them.”

ECI had an 11-6 lead in hits. Jack Herring went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. Burress, Grady Lanahan and Lashley had two hits each. Colby Wallace and Barron also had hits.

The Pirates are 6-3 in the American Conference going into a 3-game league series at Tulane, which starts Friday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+). The Green Wave has a 4-5 mark in the American. Tulane was 17-16 overall going into a game at Lamar on Tuesday night.