Tribe outslugs Dukes

JMU’s win stead snapped at five games in a row

Evin Shoap / senior photographer JMU junior first baseman Matt Bristow either covers the bag or tries out his latest dance moves. In either case, it worked. Bristow went 1 for 3 with a two-run homer in the fifth inning against William & Mary Saturday.

JMU sophomore closer Travis Risser’s mom bakes cookies that are to Dan Santobianco what spinach is to Popeye.

Before the sophomore catcher’s first home run of the year April 5, he ate Mrs. Risser’s cookies. Friday, the cookies were present for the Diamond Dukes’ series opener with Colonial Athletic Association rival the College of William & Mary — Santobianco homered to send that game into extra innings.

Saturday afternoon in game two the cookies did it again. Santobianco went deep in the bottom of the seventh, sending a three-run shot over the right field wall to bring JMU to within one run, 12-11.

"I have to thank Mrs. Risser for making me cookies," Santobianco said. "She gave them to me last night."

Whereas Mrs. Risser’s cookies may be powerful, they weren’t enough to extend the team’s five-game winning streak. The Diamond Dukes failed to rally in the bottom of the ninth, going in order and falling to the Tribe 13-12 at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.

"When you put up 12 runs and get beat, these are the kind of losses that you say tomorrow’s another day," Santobianco said.

While junior second baseman Michael Cowgill did not partake of the cookies, he was aware of their power. Saturday he went 4 for 4 with two singles and a solo home run in the bottom of a fifth inning that saw the Diamond Dukes (4-4 CAA, 15-19 overall) put up four runs on two hits — both home runs. The second was a two-run blast off the bat of junior first baseman Matt Bristow. After Bristow’s home run, JMU led 7-5.

In the top of the fifth, the Tribe (5-9, 18-17) took a 5-3 lead on a two-run homer of their own.

"All I try to do is get on base so the big guys can hit me in," Cowgill said. "I just try to make adjustments from at-bat to at-bat."

Cowgill also went deep in the series-opener Friday — twice. For the year, he has seven homers — good enough for the team lead. Cowgill also leads the team with a .371 batting average through Saturday and is second in RBIs with 28.

Santobianco and Bristow both have four home runs, with Bristow edging Santobianco in RBIs 16 to 14.

After that fifth inning, everything went downhill for the Diamond Dukes. In the top of the sixth, they not only had to deal with a six-run inning courtesy of the Tribe but also with the premature dismissal of their coach.

Spanky McFarland was asked to leave mid-inning over a difference of opinion with home plate umpire Chet Norton.

"We had many discussions during the course of the game," McFarland said. "He told me I couldn’t argue balls and strikes and I told him I wasn’t, I was arguing balls and he didn’t like that.

"In the future, I should practice better restraint."

After that sixth inning, in which William & Mary took an 11-8 lead, the Diamond Dukes answered with one run in their half of the inning, then three more in the bottom of the seventh on Santobianco’s cookie-aided home run.

"We never thought for a minute that we were going to lose," Cowgill said. "You can’t play not to lose. We knew Dan was going to step up. He’s been hitting the ball well lately."

In the end, it wasn’t enough.

Madison continues play tomorrow when they will have a brief interlude in conference action, traveling to Farmville to challenge Longwood University at 3 p.m.