Early Offense Lifts Dukes to Series-Opening Win over W&M

Friday, April 15

Harrisonburg, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

15-19, 5-5

William & Mary

15-18, 4-5

William & Mary

James Madison

Early Offense Lifts Dukes to Series-Opening Win over W&M

4/15/2016 10:41:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Junior left fielder Ky Parrott homered on the first pitch of the first inning on Friday night and James Madison never trailed as the Dukes picked up an 8-5 win over William & Mary in the first game of a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

The Dukes improved to 15-19 (5-5 CAA) with the victory after racking up 14 hits, marking their second double-digit performance in a row. W&M tallied 10 hits of its own, but fell to 15-18 (4-5 CAA) in the loss.

In addition to his first-pitch homer, Parrott would triple in his next at-bat to finish 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a pair of runs. Sophomore right fielder Adam Sisk notched his third three-hit game of the season with a 3-for-4 performance that included a pair of doubles and two runs scored.

Senior left-hander Aaron Hoover grinded out a crucial seven-inning start en route to the win, which moved him to 4-3 on the year as he struck out five on the evening. Hoover yielded four runs, but all four came in one frame as he scattered five hits across his other six innings on the mound.

Senior Ben Garner threw a perfect ninth inning that included a pair of strikeouts as he picked up his team-leading fourth save of the season.

Four other Dukes notched multiple hits on the evening, led by senior designated hitter Tyler Carroll, who drove in a career-high three runs with singles in both of his at-bats. Junior Brett Johnson and sophomores Kyle McPherson and Mike Sciorra each added a pair of hits.

After Parrotts' leadoff long ball, the Dukes tacked on three more runs in the second and made it 5-0 on an RBI single from Carroll in the third. W&M struck for four runs on three hits in the top of the fourth, but JMU plated three on four straight two-out singles in the fifth to extend the lead to 8-4 and render an eighth-inning run from the Tribe meaningless.

Left fielder Ryan Hall paced the W&M offense with three hits on the evening, while second baseman Cullen Large and center fielder Josh Smith each added a pair of hits. Tribe starter Nick Brown fell to 3-4 with the loss after yielding all eight runs in his five innings

QUOTING COACH IKENBERRY
"Our offense really set the tone for us in the first three innings tonight. Obviously, Ky Parrott had a great start and then guys like Adam Sisk, Mike Sciorra and Tyler Carroll all had big days for us at the bottom of the lineup. I was really proud of the way Aaron Hoover worked through trouble in the fourth and then did a great job in his last three innings to get us deep into the game and save our bullpen a little bit."

PLAY OF THE GAME | COMPLETE HIGHLIGHTS

Junior leadoff hitter Ky Parrott hammered the first pitch he saw in the first inning over the right field fence to stake JMU a 1-0 lead and set the tone for the Dukes' 8-5 victory over William & Mary on April 15.

SETTING THE TABLE
Junior left fielder Ky Parrott did not waste any time extending his reached-base streak, as his first-inning homer pushed his current run to 17 consecutive games.

Parrott opened the season with a career-best 16-game streak, which ended after an 0-for-1 pinch-hit appearance against Monmouth on March 15. He then began his current streak in the very next contest, meaning the Herndon, Va. native has reached base in 33 of 34 games this season and has done so in all 33 contests in which he has started.

PHOTO OF THE GAME | COMPLETE PHOTO GALLERY

Senior designated hitter Tyler Carroll congratulates junior catcher Zach Tondi after Tondi scored on an RBI single from Mike Sciorra in the fifth inning.

UP NEXT
The Dukes and Tribe will continue their three-game CAA series on Saturday, April 16, with a 4 p.m. contest at Eagle Field, before closing the set out at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Both games will have live video coverage provided on MadiZone HD SportsNet presented by the JMU Alumni Association.