Seahawks Stifle Dukes in Series Opener 6-2

Friday, April 14

Wilmington, N.C.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

18-15, 3-7

UNCW

14-18, 3-4

James Madison

UNCW

4/14/2017 10:35:00 PM | Baseball

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WILMINGTON, N.C. – Two UNCW pitchers combined to limit James Madison to four hits as the host Seahawks opened the three-game Colonial Athletic Association baseball series with a 6-2 triumph on Friday night at Brooks Field.

UNCW improved to 14-18 overall and 3-4 in CAA play while JMU fell to 18-15 overall and 3-7 in the league.

Brandon Withers dropped to 5-2 for the Dukes with the loss on the mound. He spread out nine hits allowed over six innings while surrendering three runs and striking out three. Fox Semones had the lone extra-base hit for the Dukes with a two-run home run in the seventh, which briefly cut the deficit to 3-2 before the Seahawks tallied one in the seventh and two in the eighth.

Seahawks' starter Alex Royalty improved to 5-2 after logging 10 strikeouts and allowing two runs on four hits in seven innings. Austin Easter was perfect over the final two frames for his second save. Each of the first five batters and six of the first seven had multiple-hits in the contest, led by designated hitter Nick Feight, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

QUOTING COACH IKENBERRY
"I thought Brandon Withers did a nice job of getting deep into the game like we wanted him to. We gave up a few free bases near the end with some errors and they capitalized. If we would have been able to keep it a close game it might have been more interesting. We had a chance to strike earlier in the game and didn't take advantage, and it came back to cost us."

ON DECK
The Dukes and Seahawks continue the series with game two on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.