KENT STATE FLASHES PAST DUKES IN BASEBALL RUMBLE, 11-6

Sunday, March 6

Conway, S.C.

TBA

James Madison University

4-5

Kent State

1-6

Kent State

James Madison

3/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

KENT STATE FLASHES PAST DUKES IN BASEBALL RUMBLE, 11-6

Skyler Doom homered and doubled in a run.

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. (3/6/05) – Junior second baseman Drew Saylor dropped in four hits and redshirt sophomore Andrew Davis pushed across four runs to lead Kent State to an 11-6 win against James Madison Sunday in the Springmaid Beach Resort Rumble at Coastal Carolina University.

The Golden Flash improved to 4-5 while JMU fell to 1-6 with its third consecutive loss.

Davis wrapped a two-run homer around the foul pole in left to begin the Mid-American Conference member's comeback in the fifth. The Golden Flash rallied for four runs on as many hits and took advantage of a pair of JMU errors to tie the game in the sixth, 6-6. Junior first baseman Kurt Eichorn, the reigning MAC Player of the Week, muscled a grounder through the middle to allow the tying run to score with two outs in the inning.

The seventh was much the same as KSU used four more hits and a pair of JMU miscues to plate five runs. Sophomore shortstop Emmanuel Burris slapped a single to right to score senior left fielder Chuck Moore with the go-ahead run. Moore had reached with the second of his three hits. Saylor launched a two-run blow to left to top off the scoring outburst.

The Dukes had a 6-0 lead after four innings when junior second baseman Michael Cowgill (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) hit his second homer of the weekend, a two-run shot that cleared the wall in left field. That capped a four-run frame, which is the Dukes' biggest inning of the season, and Cowgill's homer was the Dukes' seventh extra-base hit in the game.

Junior Nate Schill (Audubon, N.J./Audubon) started off the fourth by stroking a sharp single to left. He scored from first base on freshman Kellen Kulbacki's (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) second RBI-double in as many trips to the plate. Kulbacki came around the circuit as junior center fielder Skyler Doom (Yorktown, Va./York) doubled over the first-base bag. Doom was picked off second base before senior right fielder Sean Loso (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) walked and scored on Cowgill's homer.

Doom started the Dukes' offense off with a homer to leadoff the first inning, the Dukes' third leadoff homer of the season, but the first of the opening frame. Kulbacki, who finished with a career-best three hits, plated junior first baseman Matt Bristow (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) with a double off the base of the left-field wall to give the Dukes a 2-0 lead after two innings.

Cowgill produced his second three-hit game of the weekend, having gone 3-for-4 in Friday's 5-4, 10-inning loss to host Coastal Carolina. He also ran his streak to four straight games with at least one RBI and now leads the team with seven. Sophomore Rob Altieri (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) connected for the Dukes' first triple of the year, coming with no one on base and two outs in the second.

The Dukes' bats went quiet after Cowgill greeted junior right-handed reliever Chad Wagler with his two-run homer. Wagler went on to limit the Dukes to two hits over the next 4 1/3 innings. He earned the win for his efforts and raised his record to 2-1.

Freshman ri