HARRISONBURG, Va. | James Madison scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth and held on to defeat South Alabama 13-8 at Eagle Field on a windy Saturday afternoon.
South Alabama (11-16, 2-6 Sun Belt) held the lead for most of the game after taking it in the third due in large part to home runs off the bat of
Trey Lewis and
Joseph Sullivan in the second, and a solo shot by
Will Turner in the fifth. However, James Madison (16-10, 3-3 Sun Belt) combined to score eight runs in the seventh and eighth to get the win.
The Jags pounded out ten hits in the loss led by Lewis who finished 3-for-4 with three runs batted in and a pair of runs scored, while three different players each picked up a pair of hits in the loss.
Erick Orbeta finished 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, while Turner finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and three runs scored. Meanwhile, Sullivan finished 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Gehrig Conard started and was lifted in the third inning for
Jeremy Lee, leaving with runners at first and third and one out in the inning. He went 2.1 innings allowing five runs (all earned) on four hits with a pair of strikeouts before leaving. Lee went four-plus innings and allowed three runs (all earned) in six hits before giving way to
Grant Wood in the bottom of the seventh.
Wood (4-2) suffered the loss working the final 1.2 innings and allowing five runs off five hits with a pair of strikeouts.
How It Happened
- (B1) Mike Mancini connected on a two-out, two-run single up the middle to score Jack Cone and Fenwick Trimble for the early lead, James Madison 2-0.
- (T2) Trey Lewis with his fourth home run of the season, and second in as many as games, to put the Jags on the board followed by a 427-foot blast off the bat of Joseph Sullivan to finish off the back-to-back home runs, 2-2.
- (T3) South Alabama took their first lead on a triple by Will Turner to score Erick Orbeta from second before Lewis singled to right center to score Turner. Sullivan followed with a double off the top of the wall in left center to extend the lead, South Alabama 5-2.
- (B3) After a pair of hit by pitches, Mancini singled up the middle to drive in Cone and Kyle Novak. The Dukes were able to tie the game on a high chopper on the infield by Jaylon Lee that scored a run, 5-5.
- (T5) Turner hit a solo shot, his second home run of the weekend, to left field to put the Jags back on top, South Alabama 6-5.
- (T7) Lewis drove in another run with a single into shallow center to drive in Orbeta to extend the Jags lead before Sullivan grounded into a fielder's choice that brought home Turner, South Alabama 8-5.
- (B7) Trevon Dabney doubled down the left field line with the bases loaded to drive in a pair of runs before Lee beat out an infield to third to tie the game up, 8-8.
- (B8) Kyle Novak doubled down the right field line with two outs to give James Madison the lead followed by a pair of singles from Mancini and Lee. The Dukes pulled off a double steal for their final run of the inning, James Madison 13-8.
Up Next
The two teams will conclude their three-game set on Sunday morning with a single game scheduled for a 11 am (ET) / 10 am (CT) first pitch.
Quotable, head coach Mark Calvi
Generally speaking about the game …
"Just a bad start with the free passes, we just got off to a bad start. We had 11 hits and scored eight runs, it was unfortunate we lost that game and had no errors. We weren't as good as we needed to be on the mound. Credit to JMU, they kept fighting when we went ahead. They played from behind and caught us, we didn't do what we needed to do to beat a good team."
The little things are starting to come together, just hit a bump today …
"Pitching and defense, you can't go without those two to win Division I baseball games. You have to have them together. Very rarely can you not have them and win a baseball game, a Division I baseball game. Today we didn't have the pitching we needed, we played good defense and guys are starting to come around offensively. But the game starts and stops on the mound, and we didn't do a good enough job."
Tomorrow is another day, the final game of the series …
"We have to let this go and move on. It is a one-game series right now, that's where we are at."
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