JMU Suffers 7-5 Setback at Northeastern

Sunday, April 12

Brookline, Mass.

Noon

James Madison University

Northeastern

4/12/2015 6:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Despite building an early 4-1 lead, James Madison baseball fell 7-5 in the series finale at Northeastern as the Huskies scored six of the game's final seven runs.

The Dukes (12-21, 2-10 CAA) scored three runs in the top of the second to overtake the Huskies' (14-20, 7-5 CAA) first-inning tally off a balk. JMU and Northeastern traded runs in the third to put the game at 4-2 in the Dukes' favor before a pair of plated Huskies in the bottom half of the fourth knotted the game at 4-all. Northeastern scored three runs in the fifth to take the lead for good (7-4).

Both the Dukes and Huskies had eight hits on the afternoon, and Northeastern committed four errors to JMU's one on Sunday. JMU left nine runners stranded while Northeastern left 13 runners on base.

JMU tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second when freshman second baseman Kyle McPherson laced a triple into right center and scored on a single through the left side by freshman centerfielder Michael Sciorra. Junior catcher Bobby San Martin, who reached on a walk, gave the Dukes their first lead of the day (2-1) when he crossed the plate on senior right fielder Kevin Husum's one-out walk. Sciorra came around to score on sophomore third baseman Josh Wyatt's ground out to second.

Redshirt-sophomore first baseman Brett Johnson pushed his reached-base streak to 16 games with a single in the third inning, later scoring an unearned run for a 4-1 JMU lead, and extended his hit streak to 11 games, including a fifth-inning lead-off double down the left field line.

The Huskies scored the next six runs over three innings of play to take a 7-4 lead before being limited to just one hit over the final three frames by sophomore left-hander Michael Evans, who struck out five in 3.1 innings of work.

JMU cut into the lead in the top of the eighth when Kyle Weston singled through the right side to plate San Martin, but the Dukes were unable to get any closer than 7-5.

Freshman left-hander Andrew Scarpelli was tabbed with the loss (1-1) after allowing two runs on four walks and a hit-by-pitch in one full inning of work. Starting pitcher Derek Shifflett, a senior right-hander, surrendered four runs on six hits and three walks over the first 3.1 innings of play.

The Dukes are back on the road for a midweek meeting at Richmond on Tuesday, April 14. First pitch is at 3 p.m.