JMU SURVIVES LIBERTY 3-2 TO EXTEND STREAK TO 10

Tuesday, March 18

Lynchburg, Va.

3:00 PM

James Madison University

14-3

Liberty

9-7

James Madison

Liberty

3/18/2008 4:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va., March 18, 2008 ? James Madison University got a two-run home run from junior Brett Garner (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock) and survived a pair of late threats from Liberty University for a 3-2 non-conference win Tuesday afternoon at Worthington Stadium.

JMU improved to 14-3 overall and won its 10^th game in a row to continue the program's best start since 1988. The Dukes improved to 5-0 in one-run games. Liberty fell to 9-7 overall after dropping its fourth game in a row.

With JMU up 3-0 going into the bottom of the eighth, LU loaded the bases with one out. A fielder's choice groundout brought in the first run for the Flames. A hit batter reloaded the bases, but redshirt freshman Trevor Knight (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) came in to strike out the next batter to escape the jam.

After the Dukes went down on three strikeouts in the top of the ninth, Liberty made a strong push in its final turn at bat. After a groundout, consecutive singles put runners on first and second. Senior P.K. Keller (Clearwater, Fla.) smacked Knight's first pitch a mere six inches from the top of the wall in right field. One run came in but the second runner went through a stop sign at third base and was caught in a rundown for the second out. With a runner on second, Knight got cleanup hitter Aaron Grijalva (Redlands, Calif.) to ground out to short stop to seal the win.

Redshirt senior Trevor Kaylid (Cary, N.C./Green Hope) improved to 2-1 after holding the Flames scoreless for 5 1/3 innings on five hits. Freshman Turner Phelps (Roanoke, Va./Lord Botetourt) allowed an unearned run with two strikeouts in two innings. Knight picked up his third save, allowing one run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Redshirt junior Brett Sellers (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) was 2-for-3 at the plate with his first inning ground-rule double extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games. Garner's two-run home run was his second of the season.