Dukes Stave Off Elimination with Largest Comeback Win in Eight Years

Thursday, May 23

Montgomery, Ala.

1:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

33-22

Louisiana

40-18

James Madison

Louisiana

Dukes Stave Off Elimination with Largest Comeback Win in Eight Years

5/23/2024 6:25:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – James Madison baseball rallied from an early six-run deficit at Riverwalk Stadium to take down No. 21 Louisiana, 10-9, for its largest comeback win since 2016 and to stave off elimination Thursday afternoon at the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University.

The fourth-seeded Dukes improved to 33-22 and picked up their third win against a ranked team this season, also taking down then-No. 3 Arkansas and then-No. 16 Coastal Carolina. The top-seeded Ragin' Cajuns dropped to 40-18.

Junior Ryan Dooley was the catalyst at the plate, falling a triple shy of the cycle and going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI's while pushing his reached base streak to 37 games. Redshirt senior Hunter Entsminger improved to 4-0 on the mound behind an inning of relief. Senior Joe Vogatsky earned a three-inning save for his ninth of the season, moving into a tie for second in a single season.

How It Happened
First Inning
JMU struck first as Dooley doubled to lead off the game and moved to third on a wild pitch. After a walk put runners on the corners, sophomore Mike Mancini singled in Dooley to extend his hit streak to 14 games and make the score 1-0.

Second Inning
Louisiana batted around in the second, utilizing seven hits to score seven runs and flip the score 7-1 in its favor.

Fourth Inning
With two down, the Dukes took a run back as graduate Brendan O'Donnell went deep for the 16^th time this season to make it 7-2. It is the 15^th consecutive game a Duke has homered.

Fifth Inning
Junior Jason Schiavone helped JMU chip at the deficit as he doubled in classmate Fenwick Trimble to make it 7-3. The run scored was Trimble's 65^th of the season, the most in a season for a Duke since 2013.

Sixth Inning
O'Donnell led off the inning with a single and moved to second when freshman Kyle Langley drew a walk. Dooley then made it 7-4 on a single through the right side of the infield.

The Cajuns pushed the lead back to four on a solo shot in the home half of the inning to make it 8-4.

Seventh Inning
JMU returned the favor and had its own big inning, scoring six runs to retake the lead. Back-to-back walks to Mancini and Schiavone put two on and a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch allowed Mancini to score. After a third walk, a fielder's choice from O'Donnell plated a second run and was followed by a fielding error to put two on. Freshman Kyle Langley then doubled in O'Donnell to make it a one-run game, setting up a three-run homer from Dooley for a 10-8 lead.

Vogatsky entered the game in the home half of the seventh, allowing an unearned run to UL to make the score 10-9 before shutting the door the rest of the way.

Game Notes

The comeback win was the largest since the Dukes came back from seven down to VMI on April 12, 2016.
Joe Vogatsky is the first JMU pitcher to record nine saves in a season since Kevin Munson recorded the single-season record of 10 in 2010. The flamethrower is up to 14 saves in his career, also moving in a tie for second in the JMU record books.
In four career games against Louisiana, Ryan Dooley is 9-for-18 (.500), with two doubles, three homers and 13 RBI's.

Up Next
The Dukes will take on the loser of No. 5 Georgia Southern and No. 8 Old Dominion on Friday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT at Riverwalk Stadium in an elimination game.