James Madison University’s baseball team lost to the College of Charleston 8-7 in extra innings on Friday night at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina. The defeat marked the Dukes’ third consecutive loss to the Cougars in extra-inning games this season. James Madison now holds a record of 3-5, while Charleston improved to 4-6.
The game was decided in the bottom of the 10th inning when Jacob Amman hit a single that drove in Payton Frehner for the winning run. Earlier, Amman had also played a key role by doubling and scoring the tying run in the ninth inning.
Four players from James Madison recorded multiple hits: senior Jack Guerrero went 2-for-4 with a run scored; juniors Ike Schmidly (2-for-5, double, RBI) and Josiah Seguin (2-for-6); and freshman Cameron Aycock (2-for-2).
James Madison opened scoring in the third inning after Aycock advanced home on an infield single by Seguin combined with a throwing error. The Cougars responded with three runs in their half of the inning through a bases-loaded walk and additional runs from a fielder’s choice and another throwing error.
In later innings, junior Kyle Langley contributed with a sacrifice fly and Schmidly added an RBI double to bring JMU closer. The Dukes tied it up at five apiece during the sixth inning after Guerrero led off with a single and Will Haacke doubled, setting up Ryan Gocio’s two-run single.
Freshman Keegan Haesler was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to give JMU an advantage before senior Wyatt Campbell hit his 10th career home run to extend their lead to two runs entering late innings. However, Charleston managed to respond each time, including scoring on a sacrifice fly and eventually tying it up again before walking off with victory.
JMU’s pitching staff tallied 13 strikeouts—marking their fifth game this season reaching double digits in that category. Notably, James Madison started its season perfect on stolen base attempts at 38-for-38 until being caught stealing for the first time during this matchup.
The Dukes will next face UAlbany as part of the First Pitch Invitational on February 27 at 2 p.m.
