By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — What started out as a promising performance on a beautiful baseball afternoon morphed into a late innings disaster on April 29. Visiting James Madison tallied 11 runs in the final three innings to secure an 18-9 win over the host Mountaineers of Appalachian State.
JMU shortstop Mason Dunaway and left fielder Trevon Dabney were each credited with four RBIs to lead the Dukes’ slugfest. Even with the wind blowing in for much of the game, the contest featured five home runs, including three by JMU, one each from Dunaway, centerfielder Jack Cone, and catcher Jason Schiavone. The Mountaineers got dingers from designated hitter Hayden Cross and third baseman Andrew Terrell.
App State opened things up in the bottom half of the second inning with a 5-run burst, leveraging catcher Braxton Church’s single, Terrell’s double, a sacrifice fly from C J Boyd, and a single ripped through the left side by Cross.
James Madison countered with six runs in the Dukes’ half of the third and fourth innings to momentarily take the lead at 6-5, but App State came right back with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to regain the advantage, 8-6, on a solo home run by Terrell and a 2-run shot by Cross.
After the Dukes plated eight runs in the top half of the seventh inning, the Mountaineers just couldn’t keep up with the scoring barrage. JMU’s Schiavone and Dunaway added insult to injury in the top half of the ninth with a solo HR and a 2-run blast, resepctively.
Although James Madison’ C J Czerwinski only pitched two innings of relief in the middle innings, the timing was right as he picked up the win. Ryan Sleeper was the third relief pitcher in the seventh inning and was credited with the loss, opening his appearance with a wild pitch, two walks, a double and three runs scored before being replaced with Jake Beaty.
The Mountaineers used seven pitchers on the day, who collectively issued 12 walks vs. just one strikeout, along with four hit batters and three wild pitches.
JMU stranded 13 runners, App State left 7 runners on base.
App State will try to regain its composure and win the series on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
Key performances:
- JMU Mason Dunaway – 3-5, 4 runs scored, 4 RBIs, HR, SB
- JMU Trevon Dabney – 2-6, 1 run scored, 4 RBIs, 2B
- JMU Jason Schiavone – 2-5, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, HR
- JMU Mike Mancini – 2-4, 1 run scored, 3 RBIs, 2B
- APP Hayden Cross – 2-5, 1 run scored, 3 RBIs, HR
- APP Andrew Terrell – 3-3, 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs, HR, 2B
- APP Xavier Moronta – 2-4, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI
