ATLANTA – James Madison baseball capitalized on Georgia State miscues and utilized timely hitting to rack up 14 runs to take the series opener, 14-6, on Thursday night at the GSU Baseball Complex.
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The Dukes improved to 16-10 (3-4 Sun Belt) and the win represented head coach
Marlin Ikenberry's 200
th win at JMU. The Panthers fell to 13-12 (5-2 Sun Belt).
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Junior
Fenwick Trimble led the Dukes at the plate by tying his career-high in hits, going 4-for-5 with a walk, a double, two runs scored and three RBI's. Classmate
Todd Mozoki (2-1) earned the win, pitching four innings of relief with a season-high tying five strikeouts.
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How It Happened
First Inning
JMU pushed across six runs, all unearned, before three outs were recorded in the game. Two runners reached and got into scoring position before an error allowed both to score. An infield single and a walk followed to load the bases for junior
Jason Schiavone who would belt a grand slam to make it 6-0.
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A solo shot in the bottom of the inning made it 6-1.
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Second Inning
Sophomore
Mike Mancini drew a walk, stole second and then scored on a single with an error from Trimble to push the lead back to six at 7-1.
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Fourth Inning
Sophomore
Wyatt Peifer led off the fourth with his second home run in as many games to make the score 8-1. Back-to-back doubles from Mancini and Trimble scored another run before graduate
Brendan O'Donnell hit the third JMU double of the inning four batters later to score junior
Ryan Dooley to give JMU a 10-1 lead.
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Georgia State homered for a second time, this time a two-run shot, to cut the deficit to seven at 10-3.
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Fifth Inning
Peifer created another run for JMU by laying down a bunt single, advancing to third on a wide pickoff throw and then touching home plate on a passed ball.
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Back-to-back singles led off the Georgia State fifth, before a triple from Ryan Dyal scored both runs to make the score 11-5.
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Sixth Inning
The Dukes scored three runs in bases loaded situations, getting the first run scored from redshirt senior
Mason Dunaway on a passed ball. Mancini and Trimble then drew walks with bases loaded to push two more runs across and make the score 14-5.
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Seventh Inning
The hosts scratched one more run across in the seventh on an RBI single to make it 14-6.
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Game Notes
- JMU recorded seven of its 10 RBI's with two outs.
- The Dukes' win is in their first game played at Georgia State since 2012.
- All nine starters for the Dukes scored at least one run and eight of the nine starters recorded a base knock. Five Dukes scored a pair of runs.
- Jaden Kinsler started on the mound for JMU and recorded eight strikeouts. It is his fourth game of six or more strikeouts in his career, three coming this season.
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Up Next
The Dukes and Panthers meet on Friday, March 28 at 6 p.m. for the middle game of the series at the GSU Baseball Complex.
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