HOLT HALTS JMU IN 6-5 UNCW BASEBALL WIN

Friday, March 30

Wilmington, N.C.

7:00 PM

James Madison University

8-18, 3-6

UNCW

13-16, 5-5

James Madison

UNC Wilmington

3/30/2007 4:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

WILMINGTON, N.C., March 30, 2007 ? Sophomore Brad Holt (Albemarle, N.C./Albemarle) held James Madison University to just two hits for 7 1/3 innings as UNC Wilmington claimed a 6-5 Colonial Athletic Association baseball win on Friday night at Brooks Field.

UNCW improved to 13-16 overall and evened its CAA record at 5-5 while snapping a four-game losing streak. JMU fell to 8-18 overall and 3-6 in the CAA.

Holt had a no-hitter through five innings before junior Kellen Kulbacki (Palmyra, Pa./Hershey) drilled a solo home run with two outs in the sixth. He kept the one hitter in tact until the Dukes struck for two runs in the eighth. Holt finished the night with three runs allowed on just two hits with six strikeouts.

Junior Larry Salefsky (Jacksonville, N.C./Jacksonville) allowed two runs on two hits while recording the last four outs to earn his third save. JMU got the tying run to third base with two down, but Salefsky retired senior Davis Stoneburner (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) on a groundout to end the game.

Redshirt sophomore Kurt Houck (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) took the loss after surrendering all six runs, but just two were earned as the JMU defense committed a season-high four errors.

Junior Jason Appel (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview JFK) was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Seahawks. Freshman Bobby Leeper (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) also had two hits and scored once. Sophomore Grayson Evans (Fuquay-Varina, N.C./Fuquay-Varina) was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Kulbacki's home run was his team-leading ninth of the season and the 41^st of his JMU career, tying Michael Cowgill's school record. Redshirt freshman Steven Caseres (New City, N.Y./St. Joseph's Regional) had a two-run double in the eighth. Freshman Matt Browning (Mystic, Conn./Fitch) pinch hit in the eighth and came up with an RBI double in the ninth.

UNCW struck first for two runs in the second inning. With two outs, Leeper doubled to left field. That was followed by a single to right by Evans. Kulbacki came in ready to make an attempt for the out at home plate, but the ball scooted under his glove and rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Evans to score on the three-base error.

The defense unraveled with the Seahawks capitalizing on three JMU errors in the fourth. After a leadoff double, senior Jonathan Batts (Wilmington, N.C./Topsail) reached on catcher's interference after lifting a fly ball to centerfield. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, but a groundout to second base kept the runners at second and third. Evans then factored into more JMU miscues as he reached on an error by JMU third baseman Joe Lake (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) and advanced to second on a throwing error by Stoneburner. Both runners came in to score. Evans then reached third on a passed ball and scored on Halls' RBI single.

The Dukes finally got on the board with Kulbacki's solo blast in the sixth. The Seahawks got the run back in the bottom of the seventh on Appel's RBI double.

JMU mounted a two-out rally in the eighth with Stoneburner getting hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and Kulbacki reaching on a walk. Caseres then lined a two-run double to right center to pull the Dukes within three. He reached third on a passed ball but Salefsky recorded a strikeout to end the frame.

JMU threatened again in the ninth. Redshirt freshman Chris Johnson (Shrewsbury, N.J./Red Bank Regional) led off with a walk and sophomore Lee Bujakowski (Hopewell, Va./Hopewell) hit a high bouncing ball for an infield single. Both received pinch runners, who came around to score on an RBI double by Browning and an RBI groundout by Lake. Browning reached third on the groundout, but he