Dukes Ride Bats to Series Sweep of William & Mary

Sunday, April 24

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

23-17, 9-6

William & Mary

17-19, 7-8

William & Mary

James Madison

4/24/2022 5:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The offense of the James Madison baseball team hit double digit runs for the ninth time this season, leading to a 10-3 win and a series sweep of William & Mary on Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park.

The Dukes have now won four games in a row and are 23-17, 9-6, while the Tribe falls to 17-19, 7-8. It is the first series sweep for JMU against William & Mary since 2018 and the first league sweep since 2019.

Sophomore Ryan Murphy started and went five innings to earn his second win of the season, striking out five with no walks while giving up three runs. Redshirt junior Carson Bell was the offensive leader, going 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, a home run, and three RBI's.

How It Happened
It was a hot start to the day for the Dukes, as redshirt junior Trevon Dabney led off the first inning with his seventh home run of the season. Classmates Kyle Novak and Travis Reifsnider followed him with a single and a hit by pitch before Bell took a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall to give the Dukes a 4-0 lead after one.

The Tribe added a run in the second to cut the deficit to three, but the Dukes added four more runs in the third inning. After a fielding error scored a run and would keep the inning alive, freshman Jason Schiavone doubled to center field to score redshirt sophomore Mason Dunaway and Bell. Redshirt junior Nick Zona stepped up to the plate next and singled in Schiavone to make it 8-1.

A quick response by William & Mary came next with two in the fourth, but the runs were taken back by JMU as they scored two of their own in the bottom half of the inning. With runners on second and third, a wild pitch allowed Novak to score and an errant throw back to the plate from the WM catcher allowed freshman Fenwick Trimble to score as well.

The offense of the Dukes cooled down after the fourth, but two more scoreless innings from Murphy kept things at 10-3 through the sixth. The bullpen then took center stage, as the duo of graduate student Anthony Piccolino and redshirt sophomore Sean Culkin combined for four scoreless innings to maintain the lead for a win.

Game Notes

The Dukes have four hitters who have homered at least seven times in a season for the first time since 2017. Travis Reifsnider leads the team with ten, followed by Chase DeLauter (eight), Carson Bell (eight), and Trevon Dabney (seven).

Up Next
The Dukes will be playing their sixth game in a row against an in-state opponent when they travel to face Virginia Tech on Wednesday, April 27 at 6 p.m. The Hokies are currently ranked No. 8 in the country, and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.