Longwood tops JMU, 4-1

Left fielder Robby Newman hit a pair of home runs while five Longwood pitchers combined to limit James Madison to six hits in a 4-1 win in a non-conference baseball game on Tuesday evening at Buddy Bolding Stadium.

Longwood improved to 24-20 overall while JMU fell to 16-32-2 in its 50th game of the season.

Newman went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs, one in the second to give Longwood a lead it would not relinquish along with one in the eighth to expand the lead to 3-1.  His two home runs were the only extra-base hits by either team in the game.

Newman joined with designated hitter Matt Gwaltney and second baseman Travis Biddix to account for seven of LU’s 11 hits in the game and all four RBIs..  Gwaltney was 3-for-4 while Biddix added a pair of singles with each driving in a run.

Freshman starter Brandon Vick earned the win to improve to 6-2 with three scoreless innings.  Aaron Myers blanked the Dukes over the final three frames to earn his fourth save.

Junior Nick Slogik (Strongsville, Ohio/St. Edward) fell to 0-6 after allowing one run in two innings as the starter.  He was the first of seven JMU pitchers in the game.  Senior Josh Futter (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) made his 80th career appearance and allowed just two hits in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Freshman shortstop Chad Carroll (Oakton, Va./Oakton) was the lone JMU player with two hits.

The Lancers grabbed the lead with Newman’s round tripper to left field with one out in the second.  They added to it in the fourth as Newman led off with a walk, stole second with one out, moved to third with two outs and scored on Gwaltney’s RBI single.

JMU loaded the bases in the fifth with no outs and brought in its only runoff the game on a walk by junior second baseman Casey Goss (Springfield, Mo./Glendale).  However, a foul out, fly out and strikeout stranded three of JMU’s 14 runners left on base in the game.

In the eighth, Newman led off with another solo blast to left field, his 12th of the season.  A walk and single set up runners on the corners with one out, and a single to left by Biddix made it 4-1.  The Lancers loaded the bases but a double play ended the inning.

JMU still had a shot in the ninth.  The Dukes loaded the bases with one out, but a strikeout and a groundout to the pitcher clinched the Longwood win.

The Dukes will finish the 2012 regular season with a series at Towson Thursday through Saturday.