MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – James Madison baseball opened the 2017 season with a 5-1 win over North Carolina A&T at TicketReturn.com Field on Friday afternoon.
Right-handed pitcher
Brandon Withers earned his first win of the season after throwing five scoreless innings and striking out six batters. Freshman
Kevin Kelly, sophomore
Matt Marsili and senior
Michael Evans combined for two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.
The Dukes took a 2-0 lead in a wild fifth inning. Sophomore
Ryan Lynch led off with a walk, followed by a
Josh Wyatt single. Junior
Ryan Coale laid down a bunt single, but Marcello Bettances's throw to first got away, allowing Lynch to score from third. During the next at-bat, Wyatt scored on a wild pitch by Bettances.
JMU took control of the game with a three-run eighth inning. Junior
Mike Sciorra ripped a double down the left field line to lead off the inning, followed by a
Ky Parrott walk. After a sacrifice bunt by junior
Kyle McPherson, redshirt senior
Brett Johnson smacked a double off the wall in left center to score Sciorra and Parrott. Junior
Adam Sisk followed with an RBI single to center to make it 5-1.
Sisk and Coale each had 2-for-3 days to pace the Dukes' offense. Greg White led the way for the Aggies with two hits, a stolen base and a run scored.
QUOTING COACH IKENBERRY
"I was proud of the way our guys pitched and played defense today.
Brett Johnson and
Adam Sisk had big hits in the eighth to extend our lead. I thought
Brandon Withers was too amped up early, but he settled in nicely. It's always good to start the season with a win."
UP NEXT
JMU is back at TicketReturn.com Field tomorrow to face St. John's at 3 p.m. The Red Storm beat Western Carolina 14-3 on Friday.