FAIRFAX, Va. – The James Madison baseball team put up six runs in the third to take a lead it never relinquished down the stretch as the Dukes topped the Patriots, 11-4, on Saturday afternoon at Spuhler Field.
With the win, JMU improved to 11-10 overall and 5-2 in the CAA, while Mason dropped to an even 11-11 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
The JMU offense exploded in the third inning, as the Dukes batted around and brought in six runs on four hits to assume a 6-0 lead. Johnny Bladel led off the inning with a walk and Bradley Shaban was hit by a pitch before both runners advanced to scoring position on a sac bunt from Matt Tenaglia and Bladel scored on a sac fly by Conner Brown for a 1-0 advantage. The Dukes then connected on three consecutive two-out hits for three more runs to extend the lead, 4-0. Mason starter John Williams walked Casey Goss and Tyler Duke tripled to bring in two more runs for a 6-0 lead, ending Williams' day on the mound. Tyler Mocabee came on in relief and got his batter to strikeout, ending the Dukes threat.
The Patriots answered in the home half of the inning to cut the JMU lead in half, 6-3. Brandon Gum led off with a single up the middle and Andew Sable walked leaving two runners on for Tommy Vitaletti who drilled his second home run of the weekend over the fence in left field.
Adding another run in the bottom of the fourth, Ray Toto sent the ball over the left field wall on the first pitch he saw, pulling the Patriots to within two runs, 6-4.
Mocabee was outstanding in relief, setting down 15 consecutive batters faced before issuing a two out walk in the eighth, when he was replaced by Maksimow. The Dukes were held hitless during Mocabee's time on the mound, but registered four more hits and brought in five runs in the top of the ninth, putting the game out of reach at 11-4. With the bases loaded and one out, pinch hitter Tyler Gregory hit an RBI single to center and Ty McFarland delivered a bases-clearing triple that fell fair just inside the right field line to put the Dukes up, 10-4. The final run of the game crossed home as Chad Carroll laid down a suicide squeeze toward third, bringing in McFarland for the final 11-4 margin.
Williams lasted just 2.2 innings and gave up six runs on five hits with four walks and a strikeout. Mocabee threw five scoreless with a walk and four strikeouts, Maksimow went 0.2 and gave up five runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout before Chris Payne picked up the final two outs for the Patriots.
Vitaletti finished the day 1-for-5 with three RBI's, and Satherlie was the lone Mason player with a multi-hit performance at the plate (2-for-5).
JMU starter Luke Drayer fell two outs shy of picking up the win, going 4.1 innings and giving up four runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Coming on in relief, Trent Cundiff picked up his first win of the season after throwing 3.1 innings and allowing three hits with two strikeouts. Chris Huffman came on in the eighth when it was a two-run game to qualify him for the save, not allowing a hit with one walk over the final 1.1 innnings.
The rubber match of the conference series is set for 1:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon at Spuhler Field. Jake Kalish will start for the Patriots, and Michael Howerton will take to the mound for the Dukes.
