Diamond Dukes beat at own game

JMU suffers home defeat, Virginia Tech scores 8 runs in ninth inning for comeback victory

Kyra Papafil / senior photographer Freshman center fielder Brandon Bowswer slides into third base ahead of the throw during JMU's 10-5 loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies Tuesday at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.

JMU got a taste of its own medicine against Virginia Tech Tuesday at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.

The Hokies stole a page from the Diamond Dukes’ playbook as they overcame a late-inning deficit to win the game, 10-5, scoring eight runs in the ninth inning.

“You need to put [a game like this] behind you and try and bounce back,” said junior right fielder Mike Butia. “I just think we came out a little flat today and they kind of snuck up on us there in the last inning. That’s how baseball goes sometimes. Hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow.”

The win snapped Tech’s seven-game losing streak and improved its overall record to 13-13. The Diamond Dukes fell to 19-10 and have lost five of their last seven games.

The contest began as a pitcher’s duel between freshman left-hander Jacob Cook and Tech’s Josh Biber. After the first six innings, the Diamond Dukes had a 2-0 lead. Their scoring came off the bat of sophomore third baseman Nate Schill, who hit a 2-run home run to right field, his sixth of the season.

Cook, who was making his first career start, gave up only 2 runs, 1 earned run and struck out three in seven innings of work.

“He did a real nice job,” coach Spanky McFarland said. “He’s gotten better and better as the year goes on and we’re going to use him more and more.

In the seventh inning, the Hokies finally solved Cook and tied the game up by scoring a pair of runs.

After Cook put the first two batters on base by allowing a single and a walk, Hokies center fielder Sheldon Adams laid down a bunt that Cook threw into right field. That error allowed Tech first baseman Matt Kalish to score.

The Hokies added a second run with another single that snapped an 18 inning scoreless streak for the Hokies,

JMU got their 2 runs back in the bottom of the inning on a single by Schill and RBI triple off the bat of freshman shortstop Davis Stoneburner.

Freshman center fielder Brandon Bowser followed with a single up the middle, bringing home Stoneburner to put the Diamond Dukes back up at 4-2.

JMU added another run when Bowser led off with a triple and scored on sophomore second baseman Michael Cowgill’s single up the middle. Cowgill has now hit safely in 26 of 29 games this season.

JMU led 5-2 heading into the ninth, needing just three outs for the win. Instead, what it got was an inning that wouldn’t end. After all was said and done, Virginia Tech had sent 12 men to the plate, scored 8 runs on seven hits and the Diamond Dukes had committed three errors.

McFarland cited the Diamond Dukes’ inability to put Tech away as a reason that the Hokies were able to come from behind.

“You can’t let a team hang around like that,” McFarland said. “We had several opportunities to put this team away. [When you’re down] 3 runs, everyone feels like they can score 3, but you get down 4, 5 or 6, and all of a sudden it’s almost a hopeless feeling.”

Unfortunately, JMU never quite put the Hokies away, and, in the end, it cost them the game.

“We’ll just go out there [to Radford University] and make plays,” Stoneburner said. “Hopefully we’ll learn from this and not let it happen again.