JMU baseball takes series from Towson

Redshirt senior Matt Tenaglia (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) homered in the 11th inning and junior Kevin Husum (Panama City, Fla./Bay) closed out four relief innings for the win as JMU topped Towson 3-2 to clinch the Colonial Athletic Association baseball series on Sunday afternoon at John B. Schuerholz Park.

JMU improved to 14-26 overall and 6-8 in the CAA. Head coach Spanky McFarland recorded his 500th victory in 17 JMU seasons to improve to 500-430-4 at the helm of the purple and gold. TU dropped to 20-19 overall and 2-9 in the league.

The Dukes held a 2-1 lead heading into the eighth inning only to see Towson’s Peter Bowles tie it with a solo home run. The tie held into the 11th inning when Tenaglia led off with his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to left center.

The Tigers bunted the tying run to second base after a leadoff walk, but Husum shut the door to improve to 3-0. He worked four innings of relief allowing the tying run in the eighth with five strikeouts. Sophomore starter Mark Gunst (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) tied his career high with 6 2/3 innings pitched with one run allowed on six hits.

Husum aided his pitching effort with three hits, including a pair of doubles. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Weston (Penn Laird, Va./Spotswood) and senior designated hitter Nick Merullo (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) each added a pair of hits.

Bruce Zimmermann allowed two runs, one earned, in seven innings as the Towson starter. Brandon Gonnella suffered the loss with one run allowed in four innings. Bowles had two hits with the solo home run. Gonnella also had two hits on offense.

JMU grabbed the lead in the first inning on a RBI single by senior third baseman Ty McFarland (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby). The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the frame on a RBI double by right fielder Dominic Fratantuono.

The Dukes took the lead again in the fifth on Husum’s RBI double. The 2-1 lead lasted until the eighth when Bowles homered to left field on the first pitch of the inning.

JMU is scheduled to play again in the state of Maryland on Tuesday with a 4 p.m. non-conference game at Maryland.