Baseball Dukes Battle Back Twice for 13-10 Win Over Elon

Friday, April 29

Harrisonburg, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

18-24, 0

Elon

20-23, 0

Elon

James Madison

Baseball Dukes Battle Back Twice for 13-10 Win Over Elon

4/29/2016 10:28:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Redshirt sophomore catcher Zach Tondi's two-run single snapped a 10-10 tie in the eighth inning and James Madison overcame deficits of 5-0 and 10-5 take a 13-10 victory over the Elon Phoenix in Colonial Athletic Associaiton baseball Friday evening at Veterans Memorial Park.

JMU improved to 18-24 overall and jumped from sixth to fourth in the league standings with an 8-8 association record. Elon dipped to 20-23 overall and had its eight-game CAA win streak snapped, slipping to 10-8.

The second game of the series Saturday will begin at 2 p.m., a change from 4 p.m. due to weather concerns.

Junior Ky Parrott led off the eighth inning with his 42nd walk of the season and advanced to third on junior first baseman Brett Johnson's sharp single off the glove of Elon's first baseman. Parrott raced home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 10, while Johnson took second. Sophomore second baseman Kyle McPherson followed with a single up the middle to push Johnson to third. McPherson moved into scoring position on another wild pitch, setting up Tondi to single past a diving second baseman and put the Dukes ahead for the first time.

Senior closer Ben Garner entered to start the top of the ninth and fanned three to earn his seventh save of the season. The game ended with the tying run at the plate as the Phoenix managed to put runners aboard on the aid of an error and a base hit.

The Phoenix exploded in the seventh for the game's largest inning of the night, plating five runs on four hits to claim a 10-5 lead. The Dukes wasted no time responding though, as the home side scored four times thanks to back-to-back walks by senior shortstop Chad Carroll and Johnson, as well as RBIs from McPherson, sophomore right fielder Adam Sisk and senior designated hitter Tyler Carroll.

The Phoenix took the lead three batters into the game and extended it to 5-0 by the end of the third inning.

Senior starting pitcher Aaron Hoover bounced back to retire 13 in a row, and the JMU offense picked him up with five runs in the three middle innings. Hoover finished with three strikeouts on 96 pitches over 6.1 innings in a no-decision. Freshman Christian Leckert picked up the win after 1.1 innings of hitless relief out of the pen.

The heart of Madison's lineup, made up of Johnson, McPherson and Tondi, carried the Dukes' offense with seven hits, six runs scored and five RBIs combined.

Elon's Chris Hall took the loss, allowing two earned runs while recording only one out. Elon second baseman Nick Zammarelli, the reigning CAA Player of the Week, went 4-for-5 with an RBI.

HIGHLIGHTS

PLAY OF THE GAME

UP NEXT
The Dukes return to the diamond tomorrow, Saturday, April 30, for a 2 p.m. bout with the Phoenix at Veterans Memorial Park. The contest was originally scheduled for 4 p.m., but has been moved up due to threat of inclement weather.

NOTEWORTHY
Tonight's game marks head coach Marlin Ikenberry's 300th win as a collegiate head coach with the last 18 coming at the helm of the Dukes.

AROUND THE CAA
William & Mary's Nick Brown allowed only one hit in eight innings of scoreless baseball as the Tribe picked up a 10-0 win over the Delaware Blue Hen's in the CAA's biggest score differential of the night. Northeastern topped CCSU, 2-1, while Towson beat the College of Charleston, 4-3, and UNCW edged the Hofstra Pride, 6-5.