Baseball Falls in Series Finale at JMU
3/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HARRISONBURG, Va. James Madison shortstop Davis Stoneburner capped a five-run first inning with a three-run homer and the host Dukes went on to post an 8-6 win over the Kent State University baseball team Sunday afternoon (Mar. 13) at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.
The loss snapped Kent State's three-game winning streak and drops the Golden Flashes' record to 6-6 overall. JMU improved to 2-9 with the win, stopping its six-game slide.
Nate Schill and Matt Sluder each hit RBI singles in the first inning and were on base when Stoneburner hit his second homer in as many days and his third of the season.
The Golden Flashes engineered a two-out, bases-empty rally in the second inning to get right back into the contest. Junior catcher Todd Balduf (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) delivered an RBI single, and sophomore shortstop Emmanuel Burriss (Washington, D.C./Wilson) came through with a two-run single. The scoring was completed by junior center fielder Joe Tuckers (Canton, Ohio/Central Catholic) single that scored Burriss.
The Dukes pulled out to an 8-4 advantage in the fourth as Skyler Doom homered to right. Kellen Kulnacki (doubled in Michael Cowgill and came around to score on a Schill single to center, chasing KSU starter Chris Carpenter (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan).
Sophomore third baseman Andrew Davis (Chillicothe, Ohio/Zane Trace) ended the days scoring with a two-run doubled in the right-center gap in the sixth inning.
Travis Risser and Jacob Cook combined for 7 1/3 innings of relief work for the Dukes as both factored in the decision. Risser was credited with the win, upping his record to 2-1, as he tossed four innings, allowing just two sixth-inning runs. Cook notched his first career save, hurling 3 1/3 of one-hit shutout relief and striking out five.
Carpenter (1-1) lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing eight earned runs on 11 hits. He walked two and struck out three.
Junior Chad Wagler (Hartville, Ohio/Lake) allowed just three hits in 4.2 innings of relief, striking out five.
Burriss went 3-for-4 on the day with two RBI while Davis added a pair of doubles on the afternoon. TuckerStoneburner finished the day 3-for-4 with the three RBI. Cowgill also contributed for the Dukes.
Kent State begins its annual spring break trip on Friday, Mar. 18 with a doubleheader against Long Island University in Bradenton, Fla.
GAME NOTES: In his last three relief outings, Wagner is 2-0 in 13.2 innings. He has allowed just one earned run on seven hits during that span with 10 strikeouts and five walks... Burris was 6-for-12 with four runs scored in the series. He was just 4-for-34 (.118) coming in... Davis drove in four and scored five times while going 8-for-11 in the three games.
