JMU out-duels Radford

Leatherwood lowers Highlanders with his second consecutive win

Carolyn Walser / senior photographer JMU freshman center fielder Kellen Kulbacki slides in safely before the tag.

In his last start, JMU’s Brian Leatherwood went five innings against Longwood University April 5 to pick up his first win of the season.

Tuesday afternoon against Radford University (8-23), the senior right-hander picked up just where he left off.

Leatherwood went six scoreless innings, scattering three hits and striking out five in the Diamond Dukes’ 3-2 win over the Highlanders at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.

"The arm feels good," Leatherwood said. "It feels better every time out. I had a lot of ground balls today and the defense played well behind me."

Leatherwood improves to 2-1 on the year while continuing to cut his earned-run average in half. After his last outing, Leatherwood cut it from 21.00 to 11.25. After Tuesday, it fell to 6.43.

"He was great," junior catcher Matt Sluder said of his hurler’s performance. "He did a better job keeping the ball down. He made the batters hit his pitch instead of their pitch."

That is something JMU’s pitching staff has been doing a lot of lately. In their last 26 innings, the Diamond Dukes’ pitchers have allowed only two earned runs, while the team has won five out of its last six games — including taking two of three from Old Dominion University last weekend.

"We’re just starting to get people into their roles," JMU coach Spanky McFarland said. "Early in the year, we couldn’t because of injuries. Now, guys are getting proper rest and we have a better idea of who can do what."

After ODU, JMU is at 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association — which equates to a fourth-place tie with the University of Delaware. Overall, the Diamond Dukes are 13-18.

"One major change is that we were a team that was losing one-run ballgames," JMU freshman center fielder Kellen Kulbacki said. "And as we’ve developed, we’ve gotten the confidence that we can pull out a win in those games."

Kulbacki has done his part. Last week, he was named the CAA Rookie of the Week after hitting .500 (10-20), smacking two home runs, three doubles and scoring seven runs. At Old Dominion, the Hershey, Pa., native went 6 for 11. Kulbacki leads the team in home runs (5), doubles (13) and is third in batting average with a .333 mark.

"I was surprised because I was in a bit of a slump before the week started," Kulbacki said. "The coaches worked with me to make adjustments in my swing and when the weekend came around, I was seeing the ball a lot better."

Against Radford, Kulbacki was 1 for 3 with an RBI single in the fourth inning to put JMU up 2-0. The Diamond Dukes scored their first run on a sacrifice fly from junior second baseman Michael Cowgill in the first.

JMU tacked on its final run in the seventh when Kulbacki scored on an error.

"Our offense is starting to come together," Sluder said. "But today was a gray day, so it was hard to see the ball; both teams had to deal with that. "

The last time Radford and JMU met, it was a different story. The Diamond Dukes pounded out 17 hits last Wednesday in a 16-7 win over the Highlanders. Tuesday, Madison expected a similar offensive showing out of itself.

"You could tell by the swings," McFarland said. "They pitched us away and we tried to pull the ball too much. We’re best when we go gap to gap. That’s when we score a lot of runs."

The Diamond Dukes resume play Friday when they host the College of William & Mary (4-8, 17-16) at Long Field/Mauck Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.