James Madison blisters South Alabama baseball, 10-3
James Madison took advantage of a windy day in Mobile on Saturday, with a 14-hit barrage in a 10-3 victory over South Alabama in Game 2 of a Sun Belt Conference baseball series at Stanky Field.
Fenwick Trimble went 4-for-6 with a homer, two doubles and three runs scored for the Dukes, who had three homers and five doubles as a team. JMU (25-17, 11-9 Sun Belt) evened the series after South Alabama (24-18, 9-11) won 7-4 on Friday.
The Jaguars took an early lead on Lucas Ismaili’s solo homer in the first, but the Dukes scored two in the fourth, two in the fifth, one in the sixth and two in the seventh to take control. After South Alabama — which had won eight of its last 10 coming into Saturday — cut the lead to 7-2, JMU scored three in the eighth to put the game away.
Brendan O’Donnell’s RBI double tied the game for JMU, then Kyle Langley’s single scored O’Donnell and put the Dukes up for good. JMU doubled three times in the fifth, with Trimble, Jason Schiavone and Wyatt Peifer all logging two-baggers in the fifth to go up 4-1.
All those runs came off South Alabama starter Leif Moore, who allowed four off six hits in 4 2/3 innings to take the loss and fall to 2-2. O’Donnell added a solo homer off Jaguars reliever Logan Wash to make it 5-1.
Back-to-back homers by Trimble and Mike Mancini off South Alabama’s Mitchell Heer began the seventh and put James Madison up 7-1. The Jaguars got within 7-2 on Rett Johnson’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh before the Dukes put three more runs up in the eighth against Heer — on Schiavone’s bases-loaded walk and Peifer’s two-run hustle double — to go up 10-2.
James Madison starter Donovan Burke (5-0) was largely in control after allowing the first-inning homer, surrendering two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and no walks in 6 2/3 innings. Max Kuhle struck out South Alabama’s Will Turner with two men on to end the bottom of the seventh, with Hunter Entsminger working the final two innings for the Dukes.
The was a lengthy delay in the bottom of the eighth after home plate umpire Jack Furlong took a foul tip off the mask and could not continue. Third base umpire Eddie Newsom moved behind the plate for the remainder of the game, which concluded with only two umpires.
South Alabama added a run off Entsminger in the bottom of the ninth on Duncan Matthews’ RBI single. Matthews led the Jaguars at the plate with three hits, all singles.
Peifer drove in three runs for JMU, while Schiavone and O’Donnell had two RBIs each. Ismaili and Johnson both had two hits for South Alabama, though only Ismaili’s homer was the Jaguars’ only extra-base hit.
The series concludes with an 11 a.m. game on Sunday.