Dukes Hold Off Old Dominion to Even Series, 7-5

Saturday, April 13

Norfolk, Va.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

21-13, 7-7

Old Dominion

17-17, 6-8

James Madison

Old Dominion

4/13/2024 7:29:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – Donovan Burke and Max Kuhle combined to strike out 11 Old Dominion batters as the James Madison baseball team evened its Sun Belt Conference series with the Monarchs with a 7-5 win on Saturday afternoon at Bud Matheny Baseball Stadium.

JMU improved to 21-13 and 7-7 in Sun Belt action on seven runs and 11 hits, while Old Dominion dropped to 17-17 and 6-8 in league play on five runs and 11 hits.

Burke (3-0) scattered five hits over 5.0 innings of work, picking up the win. Kuhle relieved Burke, striking out six in 3.1 innings before Joe Vogatsky recorded his sixth save of the season. Fenwick Trimble (2-for-5) and Ryan Dooley (2-for-4) combined for four RBI to lead the Dukes at the plate.

Coleman Calabrese went 2-for-5 with his fourth double of the season, while Mason Dunaway finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.

How It Happened

Both teams traded scoreless innings in the first, as Burke worked around a two-out single with his first strikeout of the day.
Burke picked up a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the second to keep the Monarchs off the board.
Fenwick Trimble brought Jason Schiavone and Ryan Langley home on an RBI double to left center to give JMU a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
The Dukes brought home another run on a throwing error from ODU, extending their lead to 3-0.
Old Dominion got on the board with an infield single in the bottom of the third, cutting JMU's lead to 3-1.
The Monarchs scratched an unearned run across in the bottom of the fourth, trimming the Dukes' advantage to 3-2.
Calabrese doubled to left-center in the top of the sixth and advanced to third on an error, and Dooley notched an RBI single to give JMU a 4-2 lead.
Kuhle struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a 4-2 lead for the Dukes.
Calabrese led off the eighth with a single and Dunaway scored him on an RBI single to extend JMU's lead to 5-2.
Kuhle struck out two more batters in the bottom of the eighth and worked around a two-out double to keep the score at 5-2.
The Dukes added two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth as Dooley capped off JMU's scoring with his second RBI single.
The Monarchs would bring across three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the Dukes held on for the 7-5 win.

Game Notes

JMU finished 6-for-14 (.429) with runners in scoring position, compared to the Monarchs finishing 3-for-12 (.250).
The win gave JMU an 11.5-5.5 advantage in the TowneBank Royal Rivalry Challenge.
The 11 strikeouts by JMU's pitching staff are the eighth time notching double-digit strikeouts this season.
Jogatsky's save brought his career total to 11.

Up Next
The Dukes and Monarchs will play a rubber game tomorrow at 1 p.m. to decide the series. Streaming coverage from Bud Matheny Baseball Stadium will be on ESPN+.