Stellar pitching and two home runs in the game on Friday led James Madison (8-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) to a 5-1 win against the Red (1-5, 0-0 Ivy), while more offensive firepower resulted in two more wins for the Dukes on Saturday and Sunday, 8-5 and 7-5 respectively.
“We knew [James Madison] would be a good challenge but I thought we were very competitive throughout the series,” said head coach Dan Pepicelli. “We were within a run or two in each game this past weekend and I am overall very happy with what I am seeing.”
James Madison entered the Friday game off wins in five of its first eight games with four victories straight. The Dukes sustained its momentum by handing the Red another loss.
The first game featured a battle between sophomore pitcher Carson Mayfield and the Dukes’ Todd Mozoki. Mozoki, who struck out five batters in seven innings, surrendered his only run in the first inning of the game, when senior catcher Nathan Waugh knocked in junior infielder Max Jensen to take a 1-0 lead in the Red’s favor.
The Red would hold the lead until the bottom half of the second inning, when the Dukes evened the score with a run of its own as James Madison outfielder Brendan O’Donnell launched a pitch over the center field wall. Mayfield would get out of the inning with no further damage.
Mayfield’s strong outing continued through the middle innings as the Dukes were sat down in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings. He continued into the sixth inning before James Madison catcher Jason Schiavone launched the team’s second home run of the game, putting the Dukes ahead. After a pitching change, two singles and a double plated two more runs, and Cornell fell behind 4-1 as the game went into the seventh inning.
On the other side of the ball, the Red struggled to find baserunners. Mozoki retired 16 straight between the second and seventh innings, and Cornell went 0-2 on opportunities with runners in scoring position in the latter part of the game. The Dukes added one more in the eighth and secured the victory, 5-1.
In Saturday’s game, senior pitcher Von Baker took the ball for the Red and instantly struggled, allowing the first five batters to reach base and only securing one out in the inning. Baker was charged with five runs and was replaced by freshman pitcher Huxley Holcombe.
“We clearly have some good young players from both the sophomore and freshman class. I have liked seeing the contributions from a mix of all four classes,” Pepicelli said.
Cornell struggled once again to create opportunities, being retired in order between the second and fifth inning. Despite pitching with traffic all day, Holcombe put up zeros after the first inning, giving the Red a chance to come back in the game.
The Red finally got to James Madison’s pitcher Max Kuhle in the sixth, as junior catcher John Quinlan started the inning with a double before Jensen tripled on a ball to center field. Cornell would pour it on in the inning, with four players recording runs batted in and tying the score at five apiece.
The 5-5 tie was short lived as the Dukes jumped back ahead in the bottom half of the inning. After drawing a walk and a hit by pitch, infielder Wyatt Peifer tripled to knock in two. In the eighth, O’Donnell would knock in another run en route to the Dukes’ 8-5 win.
“As a pitcher’s endurance builds up throughout a year — you need to overload them a little bit so there is growth,” Pepicelli said when discussing how the team must limit the bigger innings on the mound. “Getting more experience will [help them] round into midseason form.”
Sunday’s game was a close resemblance to Saturday’s showing, with four-run innings for both teams. Cornell took a 4-1 lead, scoring on a single and a pair of doubles in the third inning. Unfortunately for the Red, the Dukes came back in the fourth, scoring its runs on a sacrifice fly, single, wild pitch and solo blast to center field.
Junior pitcher William Juan pitched three and two-thirds of an inning for Cornell, striking out two and giving up two hits. His five walks aided James Madison’s five runs against him.
With the weekend’s three losses, the Red drops to 1-5 on the season.
The Red travels to Washington, D.C. next to battle Georgetown (5-5, 0-0 Big East) in a three-game series from March 9-10. The action begins with a doubleheader at Noon and 4 p.m. on Saturday, followed by Sunday’s finale at 1 p.m.