HARRISONBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary baseball team defeated James Madison, 3-1, in dramatic fashion
Saturday night for its first series win in Harrisonburg since 2005. With the contest tied at 1-1 in the eighth,
senior left fielder Tadd Bower delivered a two-run home run that propelled the
Green and Gold to victory. The win
improves W&M to 14-7 on the season and 3-2 in CAA play, while JMU drops to
5-13-1 overall and 0-5 in league action.
Bower's 1-for-4 outing led the Tribe offensively, while junior
center fielder Ryan Brown was also solid as he went 1-for-3 with a run scored. Freshman
Josh Smith tallied an RBI, while classmate Michael Katz was 1-for-4 with a run
scored. In the first six innings of play
the College managed only one hit and no runs, but over the last four innings of
action W&M scored three runs while pounding out five hits.
Senior RHP Jay McCarthy (3-1) earned the victory as he
pitched 3.1 innings of relief, allowing no hits and no runs. Starting senior LHP (1-2) Cole Shain was
solid in his 4.2 innings of work as he allowed just one run on four hits. JMU's starter RHP Patrick Toohers (0-0) was
impressive in the no decision, as he held the Tribe to no runs on just one hit
in six innings of work. Senior closer
RHP John Farrell notched his fourth save of the season, as the Andover, Mass.,
native pitched a perfect ninth.
After being held scoreless for the first 13 innings of the
series, James Madison got on the board first Saturday evening with a run in the
bottom of the fifth. The Dukes went
ahead 1-0 when left fielder Colby Roberts drove in right fielder Ian Hayes on a
fielder's choice to W&M junior shortstop Ryan Williams.
At the start of the seventh, the Tribe got a fresh start
when JMU reliever RHP Michael Howerton entered the contest. Now with Toohers out of the picture, the
W&M bats finally came alive to tie the contest up at 1-1. Katz led the top half of the seventh off with
a double to center, and reached third after Williams singled on a bunt to the
Dukes' third-base man. With one out, JMU
intentionally walked senior designated hitter Stephen Arcure to load the
bases. Smith then grounded out to
second, but scored Katz in the process to knot the score 1-1.
The College went ahead for good after plating a pair of runs
in the eighth. Brown led the inning off
with a single. After JMU recorded the
frame's first out, Bower put the College in front 3-1 after he belted a 3-2
offering from Howerton over the left field wall. In the ninth, Farrell retired the Dukes' in-order
to preserve the 3-1 triumph. Over the
final four innings of the game, the Tribe bullpen faced the minimum number of
batters in locking down the home team and preserving the win.
The Tribe returns to action tomorrow afternoon as it looks to
keep pace in the still-young conference race with the third and final game of
the weekend. Sunday's game three is
scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Fans can
follow all of the action online at TribeAthletics.com with live stats.
