JMU Leans on Offense in Doubleheader Sweep of St. Joe’s

Sunday, May 2

Harrisonburg, Va.

Noon

James Madison University

8-11

Saint Joseph's

13-11

Saint Joseph's

James Madison

JMU Leans on Offense in Doubleheader Sweep of St. Joe’s

5/2/2021 8:23:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The James Madison baseball offense (9-11, 4-5 CAA) went off for nine runs in each game, as they swept Saint Joseph's (13-12, 8-4 A10) in the doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park. The Dukes won both games by scores of 9-8.

Redshirt freshmen Donovan Burke (4-0) and Sam Landess (1-0) earned the pitching wins, while Eli Ottinger earned his first save. At the plate, Kyle Novak led the charge going 4-for-7 with a run scored, a double, and seven RBI's. He set a new career-high with five RBI's in the first game.

Game One
The Dukes put themselves into an early hole, as Saint Joseph's opened up the scoring with two in the first. JMU responded with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a Novak RBI groundout. The back and forth would happen once again in the third, with the Hawks scoring three times and Novak responding in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single to make it 5-2.

The Hawks would push their lead to the biggest of the game, a 7-2 lead, in the fifth on a home run. In the bottom of the fifth the Dukes loaded the bases for Conor Hartigan who hit a grounder to third who would throw it wide at the plate to allow Dallas Jackson to score. This would be the momentum the Dukes needed, as Novak singled in two more runs to make it a 7-5 game.

After a Saint Joseph's homer in the seventh to make it 8-5, back-to-back pinch hits from Carson Bell and Dom Cepullio in the eighth would score a run each to make it a one-run game. Fox Semones and Hartigan would lead off the bottom of the ninth by reaching base on a walk and an error. Novak would score Semones on a double to tie the game at eight, and after an intentional walk to Michael Morgan to load the bases, Travis Reifsnider provided the heroics by knocking in the winning run with a single to left to win 9-8.

Game Two
JMU carried the momentum from game one into game two as they erupted for seven runs in the first inning. The Dukes sent seven batters to bat before recording an out, scoring on a passed ball, a two-run single from Novak, and back-to-back RBI singles from Carson Bell and Bryce Safferwich to make it 5-0 before the first out. Nick Zona added a sixth run on a sacrifice fly, and then Chase DeLauter capped off the huge inning with an RBI single for a 7-0 lead.

The offenses flipped flopped after the first, as JMU's offense went cold and Saint Joseph's' got hot, as they scored six unanswered runs to make it 7-6.

The Dukes finally put an end to the run by SJU, as back-to-back leadoff singles from Bell and Dallas Jackson in the eighth put two on, and then were each moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from pitcher Eli Ottinger. Nick Zona then doubled down the right field line to score both and give JMU a 9-6 cushion. The Hawks didn't go down quiet though, scoring two on a two-out double to make it a one-run game again at 9-8 in the top of the ninth. A strikeout from Ottinger would end the threat and give JMU a 9-8 victory.

Up Next
The Dukes will go back on the road and head to Wilmington, NC for a weekend series against UNCW from May 7-9. First pitch for game on is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, May 7.