Travis Burnette drove in five runs and Longwood jumped out to an 8-0 lead through three innings to defeat JMU 13-7 in non-conference baseball on Tuesday night at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
LU improved to 21-31 while JMU fell to 16-32 heading into its final Colonial Athletic Association series at Delaware on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Dukes need one win in three games to earn a CAA tournament spot and can still finish as high as third in the league race.
Allen Ellis earned the win for the Lancers with three runs allowed on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Redshirt junior Michael Howerton (Chesterfield, Va./Matoaca) took the loss for the Dukes after allowing all eight of the early runs in one inning of work.
JMU accumulated 12 hits in the game with senior second baseman Conner Brown (Richmond, Va./Godwin) going 3-for-5 with his fourth home run of the season and a double. Right fielder Tyler Gregory (Dothan, Ala./Houston Academy) was 3-for-4 with a walk. Redshirt senior first baseman Matt Tenaglia (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) and freshman designated hitter Brett Johnson (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne’s-Belfield) each had two hits while senior third baseman Ty McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) drove in three runs.
Longwood totaled 14 hits, all singles, with Burnette going 2-for-3 with five RBIs and a walk. First baseman Alex Owens was 3-for-3 with four runs, two walks and two RBIs. Designated hitter Scott Burkett also had three hits while second baseman Matt Dickason was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
The Lancers got to Howerton for three runs in the second and added five more against the right-hander in the third to take the early commanding lead. JMU got McFarland’s three-run double in the fifth to cut it to 8-3 at the halfway point.
Longwood added singles runs in the fifth on a fielder’s choice groundout and in the sixth on Burnette’s sacrifice fly to make it 10-3. JMU scored twice in the eighth on a bases loaded hit by pitch by senior catcher Nick Merullo (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) and a pinch hit single by sophomore Bobby San Martin (Fairfax, Va./Centreville).
TU made it 13-5 in the eighth with a RBI single by Burnette and Dickason’s two-run single. Brown added his two-run homer to left field following a leadoff walk by McFarland to make it 13-7.
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