Baseball Splits Cornell Doubleheader

Saturday, March 15

Harrisonburg, Va.

Noon

James Madison University

8-9

Cornell

5-3

Cornell

James Madison

3/15/2014 5:58:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

HARRISONBURG, Va., Mar. 15, 2014 – James Madison rallied to take the lead three times in the opener with a walkoff double for the 16-15 win before Cornell rebounded to claim a 17-8 triumph in game two of a non-conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

With the split, JMU's record stands at 8-10 while CU is 6-3 on the season. The series finale on Sunday afternoon has been moved up to an 11 a.m. start in order to try to beat a winter storm warning that begins mid-afternoon.

Game 1 – James Madison 16, Cornell 15

A back-and-forth game came down to the last team batting as sophomore catcher Bobby San Martin (Fairfax, Va./Centreville) hit a one-out, bases-loaded, two-run double deep to left center in the bottom of the ninth to lift James Madison to a 16-15 win over Cornell.

The game featured six lead changes, including every half inning beginning with the bottom of the seventh when JMU plated five runs to take a 12-11 lead. Each team scored twice in their respective turns in the eighth and ninth inning.

With closer Kevin Husum (Panama City, Fla./Bay) taking the mound in the top of the ninth, Cornell got a one-out double from shortstop Tom D'Alessandro. He came around to score with two outs when Chris Cruz hit an inside-the-park home run to right center. With second baseman Conner Brown (Richmond, Va./Godwin) chasing the ball well into the outfield, he was unable to make the catch and the ball trickled all the way to the wall to allow Cruz to score the go-ahead run.

In the JMU ninth, redshirt senior first baseman Matt Tenaglia (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East), senior right fielder Tyler Gregory (Dothan, Ala./Houston Academy) and redshirt sophomore shortstop Kyle Weston (Penn Laird, Va./Spotswood) each walked to load the bases with one out. San Martin then drilled the second pitch he saw to left center for the instant victory.

Husum earned the win while also going 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, triple, two RBIs and three runs. Senior third baseman Ty McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, hit by pitch, two RBIs and three runs scored. Brown doubled and hit a grand slam for five RBIs. Tenaglia homered, drove in three and walked twice. Weston singled, doubled and walked three times. San Martin, freshman designated hitter Josh Wyatt (Eden, Md./James M. Bennett) and freshman left fielder Ky Parrott (Herndon, Va./Herndon) each had a pair of hits.

Matt Horton took the loss for the Big Red. The sixth through eighth batters comgined for 11 hits and seven RBIs with Ryan Karl going 4-for-5 with two home runs and four runs scored. Spencer Scorza was 3-for-5 with a home run, and second baseman Kevin Tatum was 4-for-4 with three doubles. Cruz was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Center fielder JD Whetsel and D'Alessandro each had two doubles.

JMU jumped on Cornell starter Brent Jones in the first inning, piecing together four singles, a hit batter and two walks. However, the Dukes were only able to plate two runs as they were twice thrown out at second base with aggressive base running. Tenaglia and Wyatt had RBI singles for the early 2-0 JMU lead.

Cornell responded with a four-hit inning of its own in the second with a two-run home run to left from Scorza to tie the ga