Dukes Fall in Twin Bill at Morehead State

Friday, March 11

Morehead, Ky.

12 p.m.

James Madison University

8-7

Morehead State

6-8

James Madison

Morehead State

Photo by: JMU

3/11/2022 7:21:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

MOREHEAD, Ky. – The James Madison baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader against Morehead State, falling 7-2 in game one before dropping game two, 12-5, at Allen Field on Friday afternoon. Game one was a scheduled seven inning game with game two a full nine innings.

The Dukes fall to 8-8 as the Eagles move to 7-8.

Graduate student Justin Showalter and sophomore Joe Vogatsky made the starts for JMU, going four and two-plus innings each, respectively. Showalter tossed five strikeouts, his second most this season. Redshirt junior Kyle Novak led the Dukes at the plate on the day, going a combined 3-for-6 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and three RBI's.

Game One
The Dukes took an early lead in the first after Novak hit a double and came around to score on redshirt sophomore Jacob Steinberg's single. The Eagles responded with three in the second, scoring on an error that would've ended the inning and then followed by a two-run homer to make it 3-1.

Novak once again provided the scoring for JMU in the fifth, cutting the deficit to 3-2 with an RBI single to score classmate Trevon Dabney who reached by a fielder's choice and moved to second on a walk. MSU answered with a four-run home half of the inning, scoring three on a home run and then added the last run on a wild pitch to lead 7-2. Luke Helton went 4.2 innings for the Eagles to earn the win.

Game Two
JMU once again got out to an early lead in the first off the bat of Novak, hitting his second home run of the season to make it 2-0. The Morehead State bats came alive in response, scoring three runs each in the second, third, and fourth innings. The Dukes were able to bring a run home on a bases loaded walk in the fourth, but still trailed 9-3 through four.

Freshman Fenwick Trimble hit his second home run of the season in the fifth, a two-run shot that would make it 9-5. Morehead State would hit their own two-run blast in the fifth to push the lead back to six at 11-5. They'd add a run in the sixth and two in the seventh to take the game 14-5. Joe Rotkis earned the win, going 1.1 innings out of the bullpen.

Game Notes

Justin Showalter picked up his 100^th career strikeout in game one on his third of five strikeouts.
Game one's 0-for-4 snaps Trevon Dabney's reached base streak, as he had previously reached base in every game on the season heading into the doubleheader.
Jacob Steinberg now has a 10-game hit streak.
A trio of Dukes have hit double digits reaching base in consecutive games: Fenwick Trimble (15), Kyle Novak (13), and Jacob Steinberg (11).

Up Next
The Dukes return home and welcome Atlantic Coast Conference and in-state foe Virginia Tech to Veterans Memorial Park on Tuesday, March 15. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed on FloSports.