ELON, N.C. – On Tuesday night, fans in maroon and gold as well as Carolina blue filled the seats and lined the fences of Latham Park to watch the No. 16 UNC Tar Heels and Phoenix battle in Elon for the first time since 2015. 
 
Redshirt junior catcher Alex Duffey said the team was looking forward to the matchup and was fired up, feeding off of energy in the crowd and the dugout.

"Having a good team come in here, it's a lot for us, but we get excited," Duffey said. "It's a good opportunity to get some heads spinning and take a team out like this. It's fun, and we've done it before." 

Heading into the game, the Phoenix needed someone to step up if the whole team was to stay competitive against the ranked Tar Heels. Duffey did just that, delivering a standout performance on both offense and defense. 

Offensively, the Phoenix has been on a tear, scoring at least 10 runs in the past three games, including Tuesday's 10-run effort against UNC. Duffey contributed to that tally by going 3-4 with a run and two RBI. 

"Our offense has been rolling," Duffey said."I think it just comes down to our veterans and our lineup, we've got a lot of older guys at the top of our order and throughout the whole order. We've got our first six or seven guys that have been here and been in these situations. I think it's just kind of piecing that together and slowly getting it going." 

Duffey's three hits match his season high, and he currently leads the team with 32 RBI and a .364 batting average.
 

DUFF DOES IT AGAIN!!!

His third hit of the night drives in two and the lead is four!!

Seven runs in the sixth!#PhoenixRising | #GoldStandard pic.twitter.com/rRFFloKA0S

— Elon Baseball (@ElonBaseball) April 9, 2025

Behind the dish, Duffey did not disappoint. He ended the top of the second inning by gunning down a runner trying to take second base. In the top of the third, UNC center fielder Kane Kepley narrowly stole second and was thrown out by Duffey in an attempt to steal third base. 

Duffey said he knew the Tar Heels were going to be active on the basepaths, looking to take advantage of any mistakes the team made.

"I definitely was more prone to be ready to go behind the plate today," Duffey said. "They got some guys that run up in their order, so when they got on, I was just being aware, and before the game, just really being mentally locked in and knowing which guys are going to take off when they get on base."
 

Duff threw out a runner.

What else is new. #PhoenixRising | #GoldStandard pic.twitter.com/etu9ogfYFP

— Elon Baseball (@ElonBaseball) April 8, 2025

With 13 total runners caught stealing this season, Duffey leads all catchers in the CAA. 

Despite the 12-10 loss, Elon showed grit, not backing down from a single challenge that UNC presented.

"We all have our heads high after that one," Duffey said. "It was a real good fought game, and we're feeling good because those games can get out of hand if you fall out, or if you give up on each other. We did a good job of staying together."

The Phoenix will be back at Latham Park ready for a conference matchup against Towson on Friday, April 10 at 6 p.m.
 

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'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.

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