App State defeated the James Madison Dukes in a three-game series Thursday through Saturday, winning 2 of 3 to take their fourth consecutive Sun Belt series win.
The Black and Gold took Thursday’s game 9-4, thanks in part to solid hitting and a strong performance from graduate student pitcher Bradley Wilson.
The Dukes took the early lead, scoring a run in the first inning and another in third to establish a 2-0 lead.
The Mountaineers responded in the bottom of the third with RBIs on a sacrifice fly by senior infielder Joseph Zamora and on a walk by senior first baseman Juan Correa to tie the game.
JMU drove another run home in the top of the fourth to break the tie, but the Mountaineers responded with 2 of their own on a sacrifice fly by senior catcher Braxton Church and a single by sophomore first baseman Kameron Miller to take the lead 4-3.
The Dukes tied it up in the sixth with a double but the Mountaineers broke the game open in the seventh, scoring 5 runs and reaching the final score.
Wilson went 6.1 innings, giving up 2 earned runs and striking out 7 in another strong outing.
“Obviously they’re a good team,” Wilson said. “It was definitely big to beat them tonight, kinda set the standard for the weekend.”
Capitalizing on this momentum, the Mountaineers took the win in Friday’s game 4-2, taking the win on the back of the third straight complete game by their ace, redshirt senior pitcher Caleb Cross.
JMU once again took the lead early, scoring a run in the top of the first.
The Black and Gold responded quickly with Correa tying the game in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single.
Correa struck again in the third, driving home another run with an RBI double to take the lead 2-1.
In the following inning, sophomore outfielder Tyler Figueroa drove a solo shot to left field to extend the lead to 2.
The Dukes scored again in the sixth after a pitch snuck by redshirt sophomore Graham Smiley to allow a runner to scamper home, cutting the lead to 3-2.
Freshman utility player Riley Luft grounded out in the bottom of the sixth, allowing a runner to score and reaching the final score.
Cross pitched all 9 innings, allowing 2 runs, only 1 of which was earned. He walked 4 and struck out 6.
“I feel confident,” Cross said. “I mean we go in with a plan, and we stick with the plan and just try to execute that, and when it works out like it has the last couple weeks, it’s really fun.”
This win meant the Mountaineers had clinched the series win regardless of the outcome of the final game.
The Mountaineers dropped Saturday’s game 10-6, losing after leaving several runners on base at key points in the game.
App State jumped out to an early lead in the first when Church scored on a wild pitch, but a line out to second by Figueroa left two runners on base.
This came back to bite the Mountaineers soon after when JMU scored 4 runs in the third inning to take a 3-run lead.
An RBI single by Correa in the third cut the lead to 2, but the Dukes scored a run in each of the next two innings to push the lead to 4.
They kept extending the lead with 2 runs in the seventh, but the Mountaineers managed to score 2 runs of their own with a solo homer by Church and an RBI single by Correa.
The inning ended with another missed opportunity for the Mountaineers as Luft came to the plate with the bases loaded and lined out straight to JMU pitcher Casey Smith, who had to make a spectacular catch to save himself from taking a ball straight to the face.
The Dukes scored 2 more in the ninth to give themselves a comfortable 10-4 cushion to start the bottom of the ninth.
Freshman infielder Tyler Lichtenberger drove home a run with an RBI single to cut into the lead. Luft then singled up the middle to drive home another, but Figueroa was thrown out trying to reach third base and the game ended as a win for the Dukes.
“You gotta have them somewhat be at peace with the results of today because you go 100 plus off the pitcher, then you go 100 plus to the second baseman,” head coach Kermit Smith said. “Like, we did everything right in those two scenarios, so you just gotta just believe in the process.”
With four conference series left in the regular season, the Mountaineers sit at 21-18 overall and 11-7 in conference play, which puts them at fourth in the conference.
The Mountaineers will host ETSU Tuesday in their second midweek matchup with the Buccaneers this season. The game will start at 6 p.m.
