Five First Inning Homers Power Dukes Past App State

Friday, April 5

Harrisonburg, Va.

4 p.m.

James Madison University

17-12, 4-6

App State

18-9, 5-5

App State

James Madison

4/5/2024 8:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison baseball led off the first inning with back-to-back-to-back homers and then went back-to-back later in the frame to power past App State, 13-9, in the series opener on Friday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park.

The Dukes improved to 17-12, 4-6 Sun Belt and evened the all-time series at three wins apiece, while the Mountaineers dropped to 18-9, 5-5 Sun Belt.

At the plate for JMU, junior Fenwick Trimble led the way by going 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBI's and a season-high three runs scored. Senior Ryan Murphy improved his record this season to 2-2 as he earned the win behind 3.2 innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.

How It Happened
First Inning
The first inning for the Dukes proved to be a seven-run inning, as freshman Kyle Langley led off with his first career home run. Trimble and sophomore Mike Mancini followed right behind him with homers of their own, as the Dukes went back-to-back-to-back for the first time since doing it three times against Bucknell on Feb. 18, 2011.

Graduate Brendan O'Donnell and redshirt senior Mason Dunaway knocked in a run each with a double and sacrifice fly, respectively. Junior Jason Schiavone and sophomore Wyatt Peifer capped the inning off by going back-to-back to give JMU a 7-0 lead and make it the most home runs in an inning for the Dukes since six were hit in the first of the earlier referenced Bucknell game.

Second Inning
A pair of singles put a runner on third and a fielder's choice off the bat of junior Ryan Dooley brought in Mancini to make it 8-0.

Third Inning
JMU hit double-digits for the seventh time this season in a three-run third. Langley recorded multiple RBI's for the first time in his career with an run-scoring groundout to begin the scoring. A wild pitch and a single from Mancini knocked in two more runs for an 11-0 lead for the hosts.

Fourth Inning
App State got on the board for the first time with a hit by pitch and a walk with bases loaded for two runs. A two-run single doubled its run output and made it 11-4.

Fifth Inning
A pair of doubles sandwiched a groundout to score three runs and bring App State to within four runs of the Dukes at 11-7.

Seventh Inning
Trimble recorded his fifth three-hit game of the season with a single in the seventh that scored Peifer who led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Trimble would steal second and move to third on a wild pitch before scoring and make it 13-7 on a Mancini sacrifice fly.

Eighth Inning
App State brought the game back within four, as Austin St. Laurent hit a two-run double with the bases loaded to make the score 13-9.

Game Notes

The Dukes hit back-to-back-to-back and back-to-back home runs in the same inning for the first time since hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs twice in the first inning against Bucknell on Feb. 18, 2011.
The five homers are the most in any inning by JMU since hitting six in the previously mentioned Bucknell game.
It is the second five-homer game this season for the Dukes, hitting five dingers against Fairfield on Feb. 25 earlier in the year.
It is the first time in recorded history that the Dukes have led off an inning with three consecutive home runs.
The seven runs scored in the first inning are the second most scored by the Dukes in a single inning this season. JMU scored 10 runs in the first at ETSU on March 9.
Kyle Langley, Fenwick Trimble and Mike Mancini combined to go 6-for-11 with two stolen bases, two walks, three homers, six runs scored and seven RBI's as the top three hitters in the lineup.

Up Next
The Dukes and Mountaineers meet on Saturday, April 6 at 4 p.m. for the middle game of the series at Veterans Memorial Park.

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Next Event

App State

W, 8-5

Apr 6 (Sat)

4 p.m.

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Full Schedule

Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Murphy, Ryan (2-2)

L: Wilson, Bradley (1-2)

App State

Batting:

2B: St. Laurent, Austin 1 ; Tolley, Banks 1 ; Quintero, Adam 1

RBI: St. Laurent, Austin 2 ; Tolley, Banks 1 ; Church, Braxton 1 ; Holderbach, Drew 1 ; Quintero, Adam 2 ; Wilder, Hunter 2

Base Running:

RUNS: Boyd, CJ 1 ; St. Laurent, Austin 1 ; Tolley, Banks 2 ; Church, Braxton 1 ; Holderbach, Drew 2 ; Moronta, Xavier 1 ; Zamora, Joseph 1

HBP: Church, Braxton 1 ; Holderbach, Drew 1

James Madison

Batting:

2B: O'Donnell, Brendan 1

HR: Langley, Kyle 1 ; Trimble, Fenwick 1 ; Mancini, Mike 1 ; Schiavone, Jason 1 ; Peifer, Wyatt 1

RBI: Langley, Kyle 2 ; Trimble, Fenwick 2 ; Mancini, Mike 3 ; Dooley, Ryan 1 ; O'Donnell, Brendan 1 ; Dunaway, Mason 1 ; Schiavone, Jason 1 ; Peifer, Wyatt 1