JMU baseball drops doubleheader to College of Charleston

College of Charleston got 15 innings from starting pitchers Taylor Clarke and Bailey Ober with no runs allowed while JMU stranded 18 runners on the bases in a pair of 6-2 and 5-0 decisions in a Colonial Athletic Association baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Patriots Point.

First-place CofC improved to 26-12 overall and 9-2 in the CAA. JMU fell to 12-23 overall and 4-6 in the league.

Game 1 – College of Charleston 6, James Madison 2

Taylor Clarke improved to 8-2 for the season while limiting JMU to four hits in seven innings while striking out six.  Redshirt sophomore Aaron Hoover (Centreville, Va./Westfield) took the loss after allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

James Madison outhit Charleston 8-7 with redshirt senior first baseman Matt Tenaglia (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) posting a pair of hits. Senior third baseman Ty McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) and freshman designated hitter Josh Wyatt (Eden, Md./James M. Bennett) had the only RBIs.

No Cougars position player had more than one hit as first baseman Carl Wise drove in a pair of runs with a triple and a walk. Second baseman Gunnar Heidt was also 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.

Trailing 6-0 in the ninth, JMU tried to piece together a late rally as Wyatt and McFarland drove in runs. The Dukes had the bases loaded, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out and the No. three and four hitters up, but could do no further damage.

Game 2 – College of Charleston 5, James Madison 0

College of Charleston broke open a scoreless game with four runs in the fourth inning to support starter Bailey Ober, The 6-foot, 8-inch right-hander improved to 7-2 by limiting JMU to five hits in eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts.

Junior Chris Huffman (Fort Defiance, Va./Fort Defiance) took the loss to fall to 4-4 after allowing five runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts in six innings. Freshman southpaw Michael Evans (Falls Church, Va./George C. Marshall) tossed two hitless innings of relief.

Senior second baseman Conner Brown (Richmond, Va./Godwin) had two of JMU’s five hits with a double.  Shortstop Champ Rowland had two of Charleston’s seven hits with an RBI. Wise singled and walked twice with a run scored.

Game three of the series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.