MARSHALL TOPS DUKES FOR BASEBALL SERIES SPLIT

Wednesday, March 21

Harrisonburg, Va.

2:30 PM

James Madison University

6-14

Marshall

14-5

Marshall

James Madison

3/22/2007 4:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., March 21, 2007 ? Sophomore Ryan Kiel (Los Gatos, Calif.) held James Madison University in check, at one point retiring 11 in a row, to lead Marshall University to a 10-5 win in a non-conference baseball game on Wednesday afternoon at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.

MU improved to 14-5 overall and earned a split in the two-game series this season. JMU dropped to 6-14 and lost just its second game in the last seven. The Dukes also ended a streak of at least eight runs scored in the previous six games.

Kiel worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed just five hits with a season-high eight strikeouts. He entered the game with just 11 strikeouts total on the season. He did allow all five JMU runs, thanks in part to three walks, two hit batters, and two balks.

Sophomore Justin Wood (Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) took the loss for JMU. He allowed five runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. Wood struck out a career-high four batters.

Freshman Josh Valle (Brentwood, N.J./Ross Brentwood) had two doubles, his first two extra-base hits of the season, and drove in three runs for Marshall. Junior Matt Helm (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) and senior Brendan Murphy (Chattanooga, Tenn./S.W. Tennessee C.C.) each had two hits and scored three runs for the Thundering Herd. Senior Brit Vincent (Bowling Green, Ky./S.W. Tennessee ) and sophomore Brandon Casamassima (Colleyville, Texas/Grayson County C.C.) each added two hits, a run, and an RBI.

Redshirt freshman Steven Caseres (New City, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional) went 2-for-4 and scored twice for the Dukes. He belted his second home run of the season. Junior Kellen Kulbacki (Palmyra, Pa./Hereshey), senior Rob Altieri (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic), and freshman Matt Browning (Mystic, Conn./Fitch) each drove in a run for JMU.

Marshall got on the board first in the first inning after back-to-back singles to start the game by Helm and Vincent. Murphy hit into a 4-6-3 double play with the run coming in to score.

JMU pushed across its first runs in the second inning. Caseres led off the frame with a single followed by two hit batters, including the 25^th in the career of senior Dan Santobianco (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) to move into a tie for fourth. Caseres came in to score on the second balk of the game by Kiel, and the Dukes added another run on a perfectly-placed squeeze bunt for a hit by Altieri.

A walk and a single put the first two runners on base for the Thundering Herd in the fourth. After the career-best fourth strikeout of the day by Wood, Valle doubled to the wall in right center to tie the score. The go-ahead run came in on a sacrifice bunt to first base by junior Nick Damas (Willow Springs, Ill./South Suburban C.C.).

Marshall added a fourth run in the fifth after an infield single, a sacrifice bunt, and a wild pitch that allowed the runner to come around all the way from second base. A solo home run to right field by Murphy added the fifth Herd run of the day.

Kiel retired 11 straight batters until Kulbacki reached on a walk to start the sixth. Brett Garner (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock) hit a sharp liner that Helm snared before it hit the turf and threw to first to double up Kulbacki. That play proved key as Caseres followed with a towering home run to right field, his second of the season.

A double sandwiched by two walks loaded the bases for Marshall in the seventh. Cassamassima followed with a single to right field to drive in a run. After a strikeout, Valle lifted a double to left field to score two more runs.

The Dukes got consecutive hits from pinch hitters in the seventh. Redshirt freshman Chris Johnson (Shrewsbury, N.J./Red Bank Regional) singled to right and Browning followed with a double to the gap