Dukes Hold on to Defeat VMI on Wednesday

Wednesday, March 27

Lexington, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

18-8

VMI

5-20

JMU

VMI

3/27/2019 11:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

LEXINGTON, Va. – On Wednesday evening, the JMU baseball team defeated the VMI Keydets 9-8 to sweep the season series. Grayson Jones picked up his first win of the season, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing no runs on no hits and striking out three. Lliam Grubbs collected his first save of the season, while Brady Harju went 3-for-3, scoring a run and collecting one RBI. Trevon Dabney continued to stay hot from the plate, hitting his third home run in four games. The freshman's two-run blast in the second extended the Dukes lead to 5-2.

Kyle Novak added his first-career home run in the fifth to give the Dukes a 7-2 lead. JMU would head to the ninth leading 9-3, before VMI scored five in the final frame to cut the lead to one. Lliam Grubbs recorded the final out on a fielder's choice to shortstop. JMU will now travel to Elon for the second weekend of conference play.

GAME FACTS
- Kyle Novak crushed his first career home run over the right field wall. The two-run blast extended the Dukes lead to 7-2.
- Trevon Dabney hit his fifth home run of the season and third in the last four games. Dabney's two-run shot in the second extended the Dukes lead to 5-2.
- Grayson Jones picked up his first win of season, improving to 1-0 on Wednesday.
- Lliam Grubbs collected his first save of the season on Wednesday, recording the final out and shutting down the VMI comeback attempt.
- Brady Harju finished the game 3-for-3 with two walks, a run scored and an RBI.

SCORING SUMMARY
Top 1^st| JMU 3 – VMI 0 | Brady Harju doubled down the line in left to score Michael Morgan. Matt Dipasupil singled to right field to score Kyle Novak and Brady Harju.
Bottom 1^st | JMU 3 – VMI 2 | VMI scores two on wild pitches to cut the Dukes lead to 3-2.
Top 2^nd  | JMU 5 – VMI 2 | Trevon Dabney hits his third home run in four games to increase the Dukes lead to 5-2. The two-run shot was his fifth of the season.
Top 5^th  | JMU 7 – VMI 2 | Kyle Novak hits his first collegiate home run, crushing a two-run shot over the right field wall.
Top 7^th  | JMU 9 – VMI 2 | Kyle Novak singles to left and Fox Semones scores. David Willis singled to the pitcher and Dallas Jackson scored from third.
Bottom 7^th  | JMU 9 – VMI 3 | VMI added a third in the bottom of the seventh, singling to first to score a runner.
Bottom 9^th  | JMU 9 – VMI 8 | The Keydets strung together two hits to score five runs and threaten the Dukes late.

WHAT COACH IKE HAD TO SAY
"I am really proud of how the guys kept their composure late. We were leading 9-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth and got into a bit of trouble. Our bullpen locked down and was able to pull out a gritty win tonight on the road. Tre continued to play great from the leadoff spot and Novak really hit the ball well today. Brady was able to draw two walks to extend a couple of innings and came up clutch with runners in scoring position."

UP NEXT
The Dukes will step back into conference play this weekend, heading down to North Carolina to take on Elon. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday.