The James Madison baseball team scored the first six runs of the game on Saturday afternoon, making the lead stick en route to a 10-6 win over Towson in Colonial Athletic Association action at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Dukes turned in their third double-digit hit performance in the last four games, racking up 13 as they improved to 15-24 (4-13 CAA) on the season. Towson tallied 10 hits of their own, but stranded 11 runners on base as it fell to 11-29-2 (5-12 CAA) in 2015.
Three different players tallied three hits for the Dukes on the day. Freshman second baseman Kyle McPherson went 3-for-5 and picked up a game-high three RBIs for the second time in as many games, while freshman center fielder Michael Sciorra was 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring another.
Senior right fielder Kevin Husum turned in a 3-for-5 performance as well, his third multi-hit performance in four contests, and sophomore first baseman Brett Johnson picked up an RBI double to reach base for the 22nd consecutive game.
After a scoreless first inning, the Dukes plated their first run of the game with four straight baserunners. Junior shortstop Chad Carroll singled through the right side and junior catcher Bobby San Martin was hit by a pitch, setting Carroll up to score on an RBI single through the right side from sophomore left fielder Josh Wyatt.
JMU took advantage of a Towson error in the third, doubling its advantage when McPherson singled and later scored on an infield throwing error to make it 2-0 before the Dukes erupted for four runs in the fourth.
San Martin started the fourth inning when he was hit by a pitch for the second time, then moved to second on Wyatt’s sacrifice bunt. Husum drove him in with a single to center field that made it 3-0, which sophomore designated hitter Ky Parrott followed with a five-pitch walk.
With runners on first and second, McPherson drove a 3-1 double down the right-field line, scoring both runners and staking the Dukes a 5-0 advantage. Johnson traded places with him just five pitches later when he lined a double into right-center to make it 6-0.
Towson mounted its biggest threat over the next two innings, scoring a pair of runs in both the fifth and six frames to cut JMU’s lead to 6-4. In both innings, sophomore left-hander Michael Evans worked out of jams, including a bases-loaded situation in the sixth to finish off his outing.
JMU put the Tigers away for good when it scored two runs of its own in both the sixth and seventh innings. Parrott and McPherson both picked up RBI groundouts in the sixth to make it 8-4 and Sciorra drove a two-RBI single to right in the seventh that made it 10-5.
The Tigers plated a run in the top of the eighth after loading the bases with no outs, but freshman left-hander Colton Harlow got a fielder’s choice and a crucial 6-4-3 double play to limit the damage and keep the score at 10-6.
Evans threw six complete innings in his first collegiate start, striking out five and yielding just three earned runs as he moved to 3-3 on the year. Harlow earned his first career save after working out of the bases-loaded jam, picking up a strikeout over two innings without allowing a run.
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Ross took the loss for the Tigers, falling to 1-6 on the year with his five-inning start.
The Dukes will try to complete the sweep on Sunday afternoon, when they face the Tigers at 2 p.m. in Harrisonburg. Live video coverage will be available on MadiZone HD SportNet presented by the JMU Alumni Association.
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