Late Game Rally Pushes Dukes Past Radford

Tuesday, February 18

Harrisonburg, Va.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

1-3

Radford

1-3

Radford

James Madison

2/18/2025 8:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison baseball used a five-run eighth inning, spearheaded by a two-run-go-ahead homer off the bat of graduate Corey Dowdell, to rally past Radford on Tuesday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park for its fourth consecutive victorious home opener.

The Dukes earned their first win of the season to improve to 1-3, while the Highlanders fell to 1-3.

Freshman Reece Moody had a stellar home debut, leading the Dukes at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base, two runs scored and two RBI's. Redshirt junior Tyler Muscar earned his first career win, tossing two innings of relief with a strikeout. The two innings pitched tied a career-high for the Centerville, Va. native.

How It Happened
First Inning
Radford took the lead two batters into the game, as Jhonkeanu Perez tripled on the first pitch of the game and scored on a grounder.

Second Inning
A single knocked in a second run for the Highlanders, after they were able to get a runner to second after a failed pick off move.

Fourth Inning
JMU got on the board with an infield single after sophomore Ike Schmidly doubled with two outs. Classmate Kyle Langley then hit up a ball up the middle, requiring the shortstop to dive for the ball and allow Langley to beat out the throw to first base. Schmidly never stopped at third and continued home to make the score 2-1.

Fifth Inning
Moody led off the inning with a triple for his first collegiate hit, coming home the next at bat on a fielding error to tie the game at two.

Seventh Inning
The Highlanders retook the lead on a two-out double to go back up 3-2.

Eighth Inning
JMU erupted for five runs in the eighth inning, beginning by senior Ryan Dooley getting hit with a pitch to lead off. Two batters later, Dowdell launched a 1-0 pitch over the left center wall to give the Dukes the lead. A two-run single by Moody and another single by junior Wyatt Peifer to plate three more runs for a 7-3 lead.

Game Notes

The Dukes recorded four two-out RBI's.
JMU is now 32-8 in its last home games.
The Dukes stole six bases in the win, increasing their tally to 10-11 this season.

Up Next
The Dukes will welcome Canisius for a three-game set at Veterans Memorial Park from Feb. 21-23. First pitch for Friday's opener is slated for 3 p.m.