Dukes unhorse Lancers

Leatherwood shuts down Longwood, picks up first win

Matthew Stoss / senior photographer Diamond Dukes' senior right-hander went five innnings Tuesday against the Lancers, earning his first win of the year to improve to 1-1. It was his first start since March 30.

The last time Brian Leatherwood took the mound for the JMU baseball team, it didn’t go so well.

The senior right-hander made his first start March 30 against Virginia Tech. It was only the second time he had pitched since coming back from a chronic sore arm suffered long tossing in the off-season.

He didn’t make it out of the second inning.

Tuesday afternoon against Longwood University, Leatherwood bounced back, picking up his first win of the year in the Diamond Dukes’ 11-6 victory over the Lancers at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.

"I’m just getting back into it," Leatherwood said. "I don’t know if I am at full strength yet, but I think the next time I pitch I’ll be more comfortable out there."

Leatherwood went five innings, giving up five runs — only three of which were earned. He yielded seven hits while striking out two and walking one.

"I love it," sophomore catcher Dan Santobianco said of Leatherwood’s performance. "He showed to me that he was getting closer. His velocity is starting to come up and he can throw all four of his pitches for strikes."

Leatherwood’s performance lowered his earned-run average by over 10 runs from 21.00 to 11.25 and more than doubled his innings-pitched from three to eight. His record now stands at 1-1.

"He doesn’t have his best stuff yet," JMU coach Spanky McFarland said. "Each time out, he’s got a little more on his fastball. He’s a competitor and he’s got that veteran experience. If he’s got anything at all, he’s tough."

Leatherwood got help early on when Santobianco blasted his first home run of the year in the bottom of the second inning. The solo shot put the Diamond Dukes on top 1-0.

"I needed that," Santobianco said. "It felt good. I thought I had one last game but the wind knocked it down, so I was happy to get enough of this one."

The Lancers took their only lead of the game in the next half-inning, putting up four runs on a double, a single and an error. Then JMU took it back.

In the bottom of the third, the Diamond Dukes went up 5-4, scoring four runs on two fielder’s choices, a balk and an RBI double from sophomore shortstop Davis Stoneburner.

"Ideally, we’d like to eliminate the thing where they score three or four early so we don’t have to come back," McFarland said.

Stoneburner finished the game 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Also doing damage for the Diamond Dukes was junior third baseman Nate Schill (1-5) who drove in three, boosting his team-leading RBI total to 28. The next closest is junior second baseman Michael Cowgill (2-4) who has 18.

"Our goal is to at least tie every inning, that’s what our coaches stress," Stoneburner said. "That’s how you play winning baseball. You take it an inning at a time."

JMU resumes Colonial Athletic Association play this weekend, traveling to Norfolk to open up a three-game series with Old Dominion University. It will be the second CAA series for the Diamond Dukes this season. In its first last weekend, Madison dropped two out of three to Virginia Commonwealth University.

"I think [VCU is] considered to be one of the better teams in the league," McFarland said. "But I actually like our team better than theirs in a lot of ways."