JMU Rallies Past Richmond 9-7

Wednesday, April 12

Harrisonburg, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

18-14

Richmond

12-19

Richmond

James Madison

4/12/2017 10:47:00 PM | Baseball

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HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison completed a rally from a 6-1 deficit with a five-run sixth inning to defeat Richmond 9-7 in a non-conference baseball game on Wednesday night at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

The rally improved JMU's record to 18-14 and snapped a three-game skid while dropping UR to 12-19.

Freshman Harry Brown had the big stroke with a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the sixth to tie the score at 6-6 with his first career round tripper. Redshirt senior Brett Johnson added a two-run single in the frame to give the Dukes the lead for good.

Three pitchers combined for five innings of lights-out relief with seven strikeouts while allowing just one run on three hits. Josh Silvestri earned the victory with two scoreless innings to improve to 3-2. Michael Evans shut the door with his fourth save after recording three strikeouts over the final 1 2/3 innings.

Left fielder Ky Parrott was 2-for-4 with RBIs, including a RBI triple. Right fielder Adam Sisk was 2-for-3 with a run scored, one RBI and two walks.

Reliever Zach Moore (0-1), the fourth of seven pitchers on the night for the Spiders, took the loss. First baseman Kurtis Brown and left fielder Kyle Adams had multiple hits for Richmond.

HIGHLIGHTS

HIGHLIGHTS | JMU fights back from a 6-1 deficit to defeat Richmond 9-7! #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/1NNw5WlkLa
— JMU Baseball (@JMUBaseball) April 13, 2017

QUOTING COACH IKENBERRY
"I think the biggest thing was looking at the walk column. That's the key, when you throw strikes and get ahead of hitters, you're going to get them out. I was proud of how our guys fought back. Harry Brown had a huge pinch hit home run to tie the game up in the sixth. I thought we strung together some pretty good at bats. I was proud of our pitching staff for keeping us in it, and Michael Evans is pretty special at the back end to enter a tough situation in the eighth and get us out of a jam."

FREE BASES
One night after being hurt by 10 walks, the Dukes were the benefactors of free bases with Richmond allowing nine walks, one hit batter, a passed ball and two errors. Walks were significant in the five-run rally in the sixth as the Dukes reached first base five times via walk, including once by pinch-hitter Ryan Lynch with the bases loaded.

PHOTO OF THE GAME (View full photo gallery)
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ON DECK
JMU will look to start a new streak on the winning side as it heads to UNCW on Friday to begin a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series at 6 p.m.

Ikenberry felt the Richmond win was significant to turn around a losing skid heading into a key series, saying, "I think it was huge. Earlier in the year we lost a game to Saint John's pretty single-handedly and then fought back to beat Coastal. I always tell the guys when you lose a game like Liberty yesterday, it shows a lot to fight back and answer the next day. That's been our motto. You're not going to play your best baseball all year. It's impossible for any team to play their best baseball for 56 games. We've been through a little bit of a lull the last few weeks, but I think our bats are coming along pretty well and our main arms in the bullpen are pretty good. This weekend is huge for us to be on the road in conference."