Five-Run Seventh Propels Dukes to 7-6 Win over Fordham

Sunday, March 4

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

7-4

Fordham

5-4-1

Fordham

James Madison

3/4/2018 6:15:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score @JMUBaseball Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison baseball scored five runs in the seventh and was able to fend off Fordham for a 7-6 victory in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

The Dukes improved to 7-4 on the year while the Rams fell to 5-4-1.

Trailing 5-2 in the seventh, JMU managed just one hit in the frame, but Fordham allowed numerous free baserunners, with two hit by pitches, two walks and a fielder's choice in which the runner beat the throw. JMU scored twice due to a hit batter and a walk to make it 5-4. With two outs, sophomore Fox Semones beat the throw to second on a fielder's choice, allowing the game-tying runner to cross home plate.

On the ensuing at-bat, a wild pitch brought home redshirt senior Zach Tondi for the go-ahead score and an error by the catcher gave way for Semones to take an extra base, sliding home to make it a 7-5 ballgame. Fordham scored once in the eighth and had two runners in scoring position in the ninth before senior Matt Colon closed the door with two strikeouts to earn the save.

Sophomore Harry Brown was 3-for-5 with a run and RBI, and freshman Josh Jones hit 2-for-3 with a run, RBI and a walk. Semones hit his second home run of the season, going 1-for-2 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, a walk and a hit by pitch.

Redshirt freshman Michael Bechtold (1-0) earned his first win of the season, pitching 2.0 innings in relief. He gave up one run on three hits with a strikeout.

Fordham was led by Jake MacKenzie, who was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and a triple. Matt Mikulski (1-1) suffered the loss after surrendering four runs on a hit in the seventh inning. He hit two batters and walked another in just a third of an inning pitched.

QUOTING COACH IKENBERRY
"It was a game of free bases and they gave us a lot of them. That was the difference in the ballgame. I thought we swung the bats well when we needed to, but the bottom line is they basically gave us a lot of free baserunners in the seventh. What a tough play for Tondi to go on the wild pitch and get to plate, and the ball trickled away from the catcher and Fox had the wherewithal to score on a heads up play. We need to get better defensively, I wasn't pleased with our defense in the ninth. We need to communicate better on the field, it's something we talk about every day and we'll get better with that as the season wears on."

UP NEXT
JMU hits the road for a two-game midweek series at Tennessee (Mar. 6-7) in Knoxville before returning home for a three-game set next weekend versus St. Bonaventure (Mar. 9-11).