Late Comeback Bid Falls Short for Dukes

Friday, April 14

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

20-13, 5-6

Southern Miss

20-12, 8-5

James Madison

Southern Miss

4/14/2023 10:11:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After going down four runs early in the game, James Madison made it a one-run game in the ninth inning and put the tying run 90 feet away from home, but ultimately fell, 7-6, to Southern Miss in the series opener on Friday night at Pete Taylor Park in Sun Belt Conference action.

The Dukes fall to 20-13, 5-6 SBC while the Golden Eagles move to 20-12, 8-5 SBC.

Freshman Ryan Ertlschweiger started on the mound for JMU, going an inning-and-a-third with a strikeout, giving up five runs with two of them being earned. Graduate Jaylon Lee (3-for-5, a double and a run scored) and freshman Wyatt Peifer (3-for-4, an RBI) led the way at the plate for the team.

Tanner Hall earned his seventh win of the year for Southern Miss, but the Dukes tagged him for a career-high 12 hits.

How It Happened
First Inning
JMU struck first with two outs, as sophomore Fenwick Trimble singled and was followed by another single from redshirt senior Kyle Novak with a fielding error in the outfield allowing Trimble to score from first. It was Hall's second start this year out of nine allowing a run in the first inning.

Southern Miss responded quickly with three unearned runs in the home half of the inning. After a throwing error allowed the inning to continue, a two-run double followed by a run scoring single made it 3-1 in favor of the hosts.

Second Inning
The hosts added two more runs to make it 5-1, utilizing a double and a single to score the runs.

Fourth Inning
A three-run fourth brought the Dukes within one. After back-to-back singles to start the inning from freshman Mike Mancini and Lee, sophomore Coleman Calabrese knocked Mancini home on a groundout after both runners were moved over on a sacrifice bunt. Three straight singles from sophomore Jason Schiavone, graduate Jack Cone and redshirt junior Mason Dunaway score two more runs and made it 5-4.

Fifth Inning
A leadoff homer from Christopher Sargent pushed the lead for the Golden Eagles back to two.

Sixth Inning
Both teams scored a run each in the sixth to head into the seventh with the score 7-5. The Dukes made it a one-run game again on a bases loaded fielder's choice before Southern Miss extended the lead to two with an RBI single.

Ninth Inning
A two-out comeback bid began with Mancini drawing a nine-pitch walk and then Lee following with an infield single. Peifer laced his season-high third hit of the game into right center field to score Mancini and make it 7-6, but a strikeout left Lee standing at third.

Game Notes

Eight of the nine starters for the Dukes recorded a hit, including five multi-hit games.
Both teams batted 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
The 15 hits by the Dukes is the most in a loss this season.

Up Next
The Dukes and Golden Eagles meet for the middle game of the series at Pete Taylor Park on Saturday, April 15 at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The game was moved up from its originally scheduled time due to the threat of inclement weather.