HARRISONBURG, Va. - The VMI Keydets scored four runs in the eighth inning, but could not complete a stirring comeback as the James Madison Dukes scored twice in the bottom half, en route to an 11-8 JMU win in non-conference baseball action Tuesday night at Eagle Field in Harrisonburg, Va.
Trailing 9-4 entering the eighth, VMI (5-12) strung together four straight hits to start the inning. Ray Lopez had a looping single and Drew Bryan followed with a long double to center. Jordan Tarsovich and Brandon Angus brought them home with RBI singles, and one out later, Cody Holder followed with a sacrifice fly to score Tarsovich. Sheldon Shifflett followed with a walk, and Red Dowdell lined a RBI single to left-center, cutting the JMU (10-6) lead to one, 9-8. Chris Huffman then came out of the Dukes' bullpen and struck out Thomas Stallings, ending the rally and sending the game to the JMU eighth, where the home team scored twice to account for the final margin.
In VMI's second longest game of the year, Lopez (3 for 5, two runs scored) and Tarsovich (2 for 4, three runs scored and two RBI) led the way offensively. Dowdell also had two hits, going 2 for 4 with a RBI. JMU saw Casey Goss go 5 for 5 with three runs scored and three RBI to lead an 18-hit attack.
The Keydets scored in the first inning, but missed a golden chance to put up a crooked number in the opening frame. Tarsovich led off with a walk in an eight-pitch at-bat, and Angus walked as well. Rob Dickinson then had an infield hit, loading the bases, and Holder lifted a single to center to put VMI in front, 1-0, just four batters into the game. The next hitter, Sheldon Shifflett, hit a scalding line drive to third, but the ball was caught in the air by third baseman Ty McFarland. McFarland then touched third base to double off Angus for the second out, and Dowdell grounded out to end the inning.
VMI then manufactured a run in the third, when the third pitch of the inning, a curveball that didn't break, hit Angus in the helmet. He promptly stole second and went to third on an infield out. Holder followed with a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 Keydet lead.
JMU answered with three runs in the fourth, starting when Cole Brown was hit by a Jeremy Brown pitch with one out. Goss then singled to left and Chad Carroll followed with a RBI double to make it 2-1. Cole McInturff then singled home Goss, and Tyler Duke singled home Carroll to make it 3-2, JMU.
The Dukes went to their bullpen in the fifth, bringing on J.T. Root, and he promptly walked Tarsovich and Angus on four pitches apiece. Michael Church relieved and hit Dickinson to load the bases, and a sacrifice fly by Holder tied the game, 3-3. That was all the Keydets would get, however, as Shifflett hit a bouncing ball to short that Duke fielded and threw home on, retiring Angus at the plate for out number two. Dowdell walked to reload the bases, but Stallings struck out to end the inning.
JMU retook the lead in the fifth, scoring three runs against the Keydet bullpen to make it 6-3, but the Keydets got one back in the bottom half. Lopez led off with a single, moved to second on an infield out and promptly stole third. Tarsovich then blasted a triple to straightaway center, scoring Lopez and making it 6-4.
The Dukes broke it open in the sixth, when Johnny Bladel led off with a home run and McFarland followed with a double. One out later, Reed Garrett relieved and induced a ground ball to short, but the ball was thrown wildly to the plate and McFarland scored to push the JMU edge to 8-4. Goss followed with a RBI single, making it 9-4, and setting the stage for the scoring over the final two innings.
In a game that saw 14 total pitchers, Jonathan Kelley (0-1) took the loss for VMI. Kelley, the Keydets' first reliever of five, allowed three runs in 2/3 of an inning. Church (2-1) picked up the win in relief for the Dukes, pitching a shutout fifth inning. Brown started for VMI and went four innings in a predetermined start, allowing three runs on six hits, while Mark Gunst gave up one run in 1 2/3 innings in his first collegiate start for JMU.
"Being that it was a midweek game, we knew we'd see a lot of arms for both teams," said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. "I was proud of how our offense fought back to get us within one in the eighth, and I thought we battled offensively all day. Unfortunately, we left too many people on base and the game came down to a couple of big hits. We gave up too many big innings in the middle of the game. The bottom line was that our bullpen could not put up zeros when we needed it to, and we need to get better out of the bullpen very, very quickly."
VMI baseball will return to action Wednesday, taking on William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
