James Madison University’s baseball team secured a 4-2 victory over Michigan State on Sunday at Flour Field in Greenville, South Carolina. The game was decided in the ninth inning when senior Wyatt Campbell hit a home run with one out and one runner on base. The home run traveled 408 feet with an exit velocity of 106 miles per hour, giving the Dukes a two-run lead.
The win brings James Madison’s record to 5-5, while Michigan State drops to 3-6.
Junior Ike Schmidly contributed by going 2-for-4 with an RBI, and freshman Ryan Gocio added two hits and scored a run. On the mound, sophomore Adam Horvath pitched a scoreless eighth inning and earned his first win of the season. Redshirt sophomore Luke McGrath closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning for his second save this year.
In the third inning, JMU broke the scoreless tie with singles from Josiah Seguin and Schmidly. Gocio singled and advanced to second after Kyle Langley was hit by a pitch. Seguin’s single brought home Gocio, and Schmidly drove in Langley.
Michigan State scored its first run in the fourth inning without recording a hit, capitalizing on errors and a wild pitch before scoring on a sacrifice fly. In the seventh inning, Michigan State tied the game at two with a triple to center field.
JMU participated in the First Pitch Invitational over the weekend, finishing with two wins and one loss. This marked their first appearance at such an event during the regular season since 2017.
Freshman Tyler Lutz pitched five innings for JMU, striking out seven batters—both season highs—while allowing only one hit, one walk, and one unearned run. The Dukes last held an opponent to three hits or fewer in a nine-inning game on May 2 of last year against Georgia Southern.
Reece Moody has reached base safely in all ten games this season.
James Madison will play eight of its next nine games at Veterans Memorial Park starting Tuesday, March 3 against George Mason.
