Dukes Drop Heartbreaker to Longwood

Wednesday, February 25

Harrisonburg, Va.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

2-2

Longwood

2-5

Longwood

James Madison

2/25/2015 7:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Longwood used a three-run ninth inning to cap a come-from-behind victory over the James Madison baseball team on Wednesday evening, as the Dukes fell to the Lancers in a 6-5 decision at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

After JMU had held a 4-1 lead since the third inning, Longwood scored a pair in the seventh to cut the lead to one before a home run and a bases-loaded single in the ninth put the Dukes in a hole they could not climb out of.

Freshman second baseman Kyle McPherson led the Dukes' offense on the evening, going 3-for-4 with a walk and scoring a pair of runs. The loss, coming in JMU's first home game of the season, dropped the Dukes to 2-2 on the year, while the Lancers improved to 2-5 with the victory.

Offensively, JMU was able to strike early. After a harmless first inning from Longwood, the Dukes loaded the bases on a single from McPherson and a pair of walks. Redshirt junior Kyle Weston and freshman center fielder Michael Sciorra both picked up RBIs with back-to-back fielders' choices before the Lancers escaped the inning.

The second inning saw Bobby San Martin produce some early power, as the junior catcher launched the second pitch he saw over the left field wall to put JMU up 3-0. San Martin's blast was JMU's first home run of the season and would be JMU's only extra-base hit of the evening.

After giving up an RBI single in the third inning, the Dukes struck back immediately. After McPherson singled again to lead off the frame, Weston walked to move him into scoring position and Sciorra ripped an 0-2 pitch into left field to keep the Dukes up three at 4-1.

Neither team would score in the middle three innings, as the bats on both sides quieted down. Freshman left-hander Colton Harlow turned in the JMU staff's best performance of the day over those three frames, as he entered in the fourth, struck out five batters, walked only two and allowed just a single hit over his three scoreless innings.

The Lancers cut the deficit to one run in the seventh after shortstop Michael Osinski walked to start the inning. Leadoff hitter Colton Konvicka drove him in with a double before being plated himself with back-to-back groundouts.

After sophomore left-hander Michael Evans escaped a tough, first-and-third jam in the eighth, striking out one and catching another in rundown on a double steal, Longwood capped off its comeback in the ninth.

Konvicka flew out to start the inning, but senior second baseman Travis Biddix followed him by launching his first career home run just over the left field wall to tie things at 4-4. The run marked the first surrendered by Evans in 2015. After an error and two walks, third baseman Alex Lewis slapped an 0-2 single up the middle to drive in two and put Longwood up 6-4.

The Dukes fought back in their final half-inning, scoring a run on a fielder's choice after junior shortstop Chad Carroll walked and stole both bases. After another stolen base from senior right fielder Kevin Husum, an error and a hit-and-run from Sciorra, JMU had runners on second and third, but could not scrape a run across to tie things up.

Sciorra continued to produce after his stellar debut weekend, going just 1-for-4 with a walk, but driving in a pair of runs for the Dukes and adding a fence-scaling catch in center field to end the fifth inning, while San Martin also went 1-for-4 with his blast in the second. Sophomore designated hitter Ky Parrott tacked on a 2-for-4 performance off the bench.

Harlow and freshman starter Daniel Pinson were the standouts on the mound for JMU, as Pinson allowed just three hits and one run in his opening three innings before Harlow slammed the door in his three-inning stint.

JMU tallied seven hits on the evening, compared to Longwood's eight, but neither team produced as much as they would hope, combining to leave 21 runners on the basepaths. Evans took his first loss of the year for the Dukes, while Michael Catlin and Luke Simpson earned their first win and first save of the year, respectively, for Longwood.

The Dukes will be back in action this weekend (Feb. 27-March 1) at home, as they welcome Quinnipiac to Harrisonburg for a four-game series. The two teams will square off at 4 p.m. on Friday and play a double-header beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday before wrapping up the series with a 1 p.m. contest on Sunday.