Dukes Drop Home Opener to Falcons

Friday, March 5

Harrisonburg, Va.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

0-4

Bowling Green

1-3

Bowling Green

James Madison

3/5/2021 7:42:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The James Madison baseball team (0-4) dropped their home opener, 10-6, to Bowling Green (1-3) on Friday afternoon at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

Lefty Liam McDonnell started for the Dukes and went four innings, scattering five hits and allowing only two runs. Redshirt freshman Chase DeLauter led JMU offensively, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored, a triple, a home run, and an RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Bowling Green took an early 1-0 lead in the first with a pair of doubles to plate a run. It didn't take long for the Dukes to respond, as they took put three runs on the board. DeLauter led off the inning with a triple into the left center gap before Nick Zona would drive him home with a groundout to second. Redshirt junior Conor Hartigan got hit by a pitch, and two batters later catcher Michael Morgan made it a 3-1 ball game with a homer to center field.

The Falcons would make it a one-run ball game in the fourth by pushing a run across, but JMU quickly pushed the lead back to two runs in the bottom half of the inning. After a leadoff double by Trevon Dabney, freshman Bryce Safferwich doubled him in three batters later to make it 4-2.

Things would go quiet for a pair of innings, until the Falcons retook the lead in the top of the seventh by scoring two unearned runs and plating a third run to make the score 5-4. JMU answered quickly to Bowling Green, as DeLauter would hit a huge home run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at five. The Falcons however put together five unanswered runs over the next two innings to take a 10-5 lead. The Dukes were able to get a run across in the ninth on a Hartigan double, but they eventually fell 10-6.

GAME NOTES

McDonnell was two outs away from tying his career-high in innings pitched at 4.2.
Donovan Burke threw five strikeouts, setting a new career-high after previously setting it two weeks ago. JMU as a team tossed 12 strikeouts against the Falcons.
Seven of the Dukes' 11 hits were extra base hits, with Safferwich and DeLauter both hitting two.
The Dukes hit .429 (6-14) with two outs and leadoff hitters hit .444 (4-9).

UP NEXT
The Dukes return to the field tomorrow, March 6 for the middle game of the three-game series with Bowling Green. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.