JMU Suffers 5-1 Setback at Liberty

Tuesday, March 21

Lynchburg, Va.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

14-5

Liberty

12-7

James Madison

LIBERTY

3/21/2017 7:31:00 PM | Baseball

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LYNCHBURG, Va. – James Madison baseball dropped a 5-1 decision against Liberty on Tuesday afternoon at the Liberty Baseball Stadium.

Redshirt junior catcher Zach Tondi hit his sixth home run of the season over the bullpen in right field to cut the lead to 4-1 in the fifth inning, the lone JMU run of the game.

The Flames jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning via two RBI singles and a run scored on a passed ball. They would add runs in the fourth and fifth innings on an Eric Grabowski RBI single and a Will Shepherd RBI double, respectively.

Garrett Price (2-0) earned the win for Liberty after throwing two relief innings and allowing one run on one hit. Freshman right-hander Michael Bechtold (1-2), who gave up three earned runs in four innings, took the loss for the Dukes. Bechtold struck out a career-high four batters in the outing.

The Dukes got strong performances from the bullpen, who collectively allowed one run on three hits in four innings. Junior left-hander Tucker McCoy threw two and one third scoreless innings while striking out three batters and sophomore Matt Marsili allowed just one hit in one and one third scoreless innings.

QUOTING COACH IKENBERRY
"Our offense wasn't where it needed to be today to beat a quality Liberty team. I was proud of the way our guys pitched out of the bullpen, but we'll have to learn from this game to be ready for Delaware this weekend."

UP NEXT
The Dukes open the Colonial Athletic Association season with a home series against the Delaware Blue Hens. The first game of the series is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday, March 24. Admission to all regular season home games at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park is free.