Dukes Drop Midweek Decision at No. 9 Virginia

Tuesday, March 22

Charlottesville, VA

4 p.m.

James Madison University

9-11

Virginia

16-6

James Madison

Virginia

3/22/2016 10:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - James Madison took an early 2-0 lead against defending national champion No. 9 Virginia on Tuesday evening, but the Cavaliers pulled away with 14 runs across a four-inning stretch to hand the Dukes a 15-6 loss in a non-conference bout at Davenport Field.

The Dukes (9-11) scored a run in each of the first two frames to take a 2-0 lead into the third before Virginia used 17 hits on the day, along with five JMU errors, to improve to 16-6 on the season.

Senior Chad Carroll continued his torrid start to the season, starting his day by homering to left field on the fifth pitch of the game and finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a run, a walk and a stolen base. Carroll has now collected multiple hits in 13 of the previous 15 contests and stretched his hitting streak to 16 games, tying his career-long.

Senior center fielder Tyler Carroll joined his brother Chad with a pair of hits, while senior catcher Bobby San Martin and junior left fielder Ky Parrott each drove in a run for the Dukes.

After Carroll's leadoff blast and San Martin's RBI single in the second, UVA struck for seven unanswered runs across the next three innings to take a 7-2 lead through five complete frames.

JMU took advantage of a pair of bases-loaded errors in the sixth to trim the advantage to 7-4, but the Cavaliers answered with seven runs on six hits in the bottom half of the frame to put things out of reach for the Dukes.

Junior right-hander Brandon Withers worked a sterling two innings for JMU in his fifth start of the year, striking out a pair while yielding just one baserunner and keeping the Cavs off the board. Sophomore lefty Tucker McCoy also kept UVA scoreless through his 1 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit. Senior Mark Gunst took the loss for JMU, falling to 0-1.

After yielding four hits across the first two innings, Adam Haseley did not allow another en route to his fifth win of the year for UVA, finishing with four strikeouts in five complete innings.

CHASING THE LEADERS
Senior Chad Carroll entered Tuesday's contest with 37 hits, tied for third-most in Division I and two behind the nation's leaders, who had 39. Carroll's two hits gave him 39 on the year and tied him with CSUN's Fred Smith, who was idle on Tuesday evening, but Danny Hudzina of Western Kentucky added a pair of hits, his 40th and 41st of the year, to his 2016 total.

USE THE SCHWARTZ
After working his way back from an injury, sophomore right-hander Steven Schwartz made his 2016 debut on Tuesday night, coming in to throw the eighth inning for the Dukes against ninth-ranked Virginia. Schwartz made 16 relief appearances in 2015, striking out 18 hitters across 18 1/3 innings.

UP NEXT
The Dukes return home tomorrow to kick off a four-game homestand. JMU welcomes in-state rival George Mason to town on Wednesday, March 23, for a 4 p.m. bout, before opening up its Colonial Athletic Association campaign with a three-game set against Northeastern on Friday-Monday, March 25-27.

First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Madizone HD SportsNet presented by the JMU Alumni Association will provide live video coverage for Wednesday and Friday's games, followed by audio coverage for both weekend contests.