After being held in check by JMU for seven innings, UNLV tied the score in the eighth and won on Patrick Armstrong’s base-loaded single in the ninth for a 2-1 baseball decision in Saturday’s neutral contest at Clemson’s Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
UNLV, ranked 27th in the Collegiate Baseball poll, improved to 29-16 while JMU fell to 15-28. The Dukes were on the field again at 4 p.m. for a contest against No. 26 Clemson.
JMU led until the eighth inning as the Dukes got on the board with senior third baseman Ty McFarland’s run-scoring double in the third. In the eighth, a single, sacrifice bunt and an infield single put runners on the corners for the Rebels, who were able to tie it at 1-1 on a wild pitch.
A leadoff walk by UNLV got the ninth inning started, and a wild pitch and groundout pushed the winning run to third base with one out. Madison elected to intentionally load the bases for the force play at home and brought a fifth infielder in from the outfield, but Armstrong deposited his game-winning hit into right field.
John Richy became the second pitcher in as many days to go the distance against JMU. He improved to 8-3 after allowing one run on six hits with seven strikeouts. Patrick Armstrong, center fielder Joey Armstrong and second baseman Justin Jones each had two hits for UNLV.
Junior Kevin Husum (Panama City, Fla./Bay) took the loss for JMU after allowing two runs in 2 1/3 innings with three strikeouts. Redshirt sophomore starter Aaron Hoover (Centreville, Va./Westfield) tossed goose eggs for six innings as the starter and allowed four hits while registering 103 pitches.
McFarland had two hits with a walk and an RBI to lead the JMU offense.
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Chris Graham
