HOKIES HALT DUKES WITH 4-0 SHUTOUT

Tuesday, March 31

Harrisonburg, Va.

3:00 PM

James Madison University

15-13

Virginia Tech

16-10

Virginia Tech

James Madison

3/31/2009 4:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va., March 31, 2009 ? Five Virginia Tech pitchers combined on the shutout in a 4-0 victory over James Madison on Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference baseball game at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.

VT improved to 16-10 on the season while JMU dropped to 15-13 with its fifth loss in the last six games.

After scoring 38 runs over the weekend with 49 hits against Towson, JMU was held in check with just seven hits in the contest. It was the first shutout of the Dukes since the 2008 season opener in a 4-0 loss to Binghamton, ending a span of 84 games without being shut out.

Clark Labitan earned the win in his two-inning start to improve to 4-1. Rhett Ballard, Kyle Cichy, Brandon Fisher, and Ben Rowen combined on the shutout with Fisher striking out two in three innings.

Senior Justin Wood (Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) took the loss for the Dukes after allowing three runs on four hits in five innings. He passed the 200 innings pitched mark in his career while topping his career high with seven strikeouts.

The Hokies were led offensively by catcher Anthony Sosnoskie, who went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. Mike Kaminski and Klint Reed each had two hits while sharing the leadoff spot in the lineup.

Redshirt sophomore first baseman/pitcher Trevor Knight (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) was 2-for-4 at the plate and also struck out four in 3 2/3 innings of relief. Redshirt junior right fielder Matt Townsend (Lorton, Va./Hayfield) also had two hits to extend his career-best hitting streak to 18 games.

Virginia Tech scored first in the game as Kaminski singled through the right side on the first pitch of the game. He moved to second on a walk by center fielder Steve Bumbry and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Sosnoskie hit a fly ball at medium depth down the right field line with Kaminski narrowly sliding home in front