Withers Powers Dukes to Series-Clinching Win at Charleston

Sunday, April 24

Charleston, S.C.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

College of Charleston

Withers Powers Dukes to Series-Clinching Win at Charleston

4/24/2016 6:47:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Junior right-hander Brandon Withers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Sunday afternoon and eight James Madison starters tallied a hit as the Dukes claimed a 3-1 victory over College of Charleston in the final game of the teams' three-game Colonial Athletic Association series at Patriots Point.

The Dukes, who improved to 17-23 (7-8 CAA) with the win, pounded out 10 hits--all singles--to give them double-digit hits for the third time this weekend. The victory also gave JMU the series win over Charleston for the first time since it joined the league in 2013-14, as the Cougars dropped to 22-17-1 (6-6 CAA).

Withers (2-5) was in control throughout, striking out seven across his 6 1/3 innings and allowing just one runner past second base until a pair of one-out hits--the first two of the day for the Cougars--put runners on first and third and chased him after 120 pitches.

Sophomore catcher Zach Tondi drove in all three runs for the Dukes on a 2-for-5 afternoon, plating a pair of runs on an RBI single in the third before adding an insurance run with another in the top of the seventh. Eight other Dukes picked up a hit on the afternoon, with junior left fielder Ky Parrott scoring two runs on a day that saw him walk three times, get hit by a pitch and single.

Senior righty Ben Garner took over for Withers in the seventh and, after a single up the middle plated Charleston's only run of the day, the Burke, Va. native worked 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, striking out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to close things out and pick up his sixth save of the year.

Charleston starter Eric Bauer, who entered the afternoon with a 1.91 ERA, took the loss to fall to 2-1 after being tagged with six hits and a pair of runs in just 3 2/3 innings. No Cougar starter had more than one hit, with catcher Erven Roper's seventh-inning double marking Charleston's only extra-base hit.

QUOTING COACH IKENBERRY
"Brandon Withers was electric for us today! Taking the no-hitter into the seventh really kept our guys extremely focused all day. We had some really good at-bats and got two big hits from Zach Tondi. Ben Garner came in and did a great job to close things out for us.

BIG HITS FROM TONDI
Sophomore catcher Zach Tondi racked up three RBIs on the afternoon, marking his third three-RBI game of the season, tied for most on the team. In all, Tondi has tallied multiple RBIs in seventh different games and did so in all three contests at Patriots Point this weekend.

TWEET OF THE GAME

Quality series win...keep momentum going @JMUBaseball #dukesbaseball
— Jake Lowery (@jlowery3) April 24, 2016

AROUND THE CAA
After the weekend's action, the Dukes are alone in sixth place at 7-8, half a game back of Northeastern and Charleston, which are 7-7 and 6-6, respectively. The top six teams advance to the CAA Tournament, which is held at College of Charleston this season from May 25-28.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will return to Harrisonburg this week to kick off a nine-game homestand with contests against Maryland and George Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Both games will MadiZone HD SportsNet provided by the JMU Alumni Association.

JMU will then continue its CAA slate with a weekend series against Elon in Harrisonburg on Friday-Sunday, April 29-May 1. The Phoenix swept Hofstra at home this weekend to improve to 19-22 (10-7 CAA), good for third place in the league.