James Madison jumped out to a 5-1 lead through four innings and held on in the late innings to defeat Cornell 6-4 in a non-conference baseball game on Tuesday evening at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.
JMU improved to 16-5 overall and 11-3 at home. Cornell dropped to 1-10 for the season.
After Cornell scored the first run, JMU scored five unanswered to take a 5-1 lead through four. The Big Red struck for three runs in the seventh, but the Dukes responded with a run of their own in the seventh and held off Cornell in the last two innings.
Senior shortstop David Herbek (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) hit his eighth home run, a solo shot, and doubled while scoring twice. Freshman Tyler McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) had two hits with an RBI double. Junior center fielder Ian Haynes (Danville, Va./Tunstall) also had two hits with a run.
McFarland picked up his first career victory in the predetermined short start, allowing one run on a leadoff solo homer and four hits in three innings. Junior right-hander Josh Futter (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) pitched three hitless innings after McFarland to help hold the lead. Senior left-hander James Weiner (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne’s-Belfield) struck out three with no hits over the final 1 1/3 innings to record his first save of the season.
Starter Dan Lea took the loss after allowing two runs on three hits in three innings. First baseman Mickey Brodsky and designated hitter Phil Mullan each went 2-for-4. Brodsky added an RBI and a walk.
Cornell scored first as center fielder Brian Billigen socked a solo shot to right on the second pitch of the game. It was Cornell’s third home run of the season in 11 games and was the only extra-base hit for the Big Red in the game.
In the JMU first inning, the first two Dukes went down quietly before Herbek hit a solo shot to right field, his eighth of the season to move him to second nationally behind JMU junior catcher Jake Lowery (Midlothian, Va./Cosby).
The Big Red loaded the bases with no outs in the second but a tapper back to McFarland went for a 1-2-3 double play and an infield popup escaped the jam. Cornell threatened again in the third with runners on second and third and no outs. This time, a strikeout, popup and groundout stranded two runners.
JMU responded in the third with a leadoff single by sophomore second baseman Bradley Shaban (Midlothian, Va./Cosby). After a sacrifice bunt, Lowery doubled to the corner in left for the RBI and a 2-1 JMU lead.
The Dukes added a run in the fourth as sophomore catcher Billy Logan (Greenup, Ky./Greenup County) doubled with one out. He moved to third on an infield single by Haynes and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Shaban for a 3-1 score. Lowery then lifted a high popup that the third baseman briefly lost in the lights. He was unable to make the catch just inside the base line, allowing two unearned runs to score.
The score remained 5-1 until the seventh when Cornell began the inning against Scott Mayer (Waterford, Va./Loudoun Valley) with a single and a hit batter. After a sacrifice fly, the Big Red scored on a wild pitch and added an RBI single by Brodsky to make it 5-3. After a flyout, an RBI single by Hager made it 5-4.
JMU responded in the seventh as Herbek led off with a double. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore left fielder Johnny Bladel (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge), who also walked three times, and scored on an RBI double to the corner in right by McFarland.
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