James Madison University defeated the University of Louisiana Monroe 10-2 on Sunday, Apr. 26, securing a Sun Belt Conference baseball series win at Lou St. Amant Field.
The victory improved the Dukes’ record to 18-24 overall and 8-13 in conference play, while the Warhawks dropped to 23-21 overall and 10-11 in the Sun Belt. Freshman pitcher Tyler Lutz delivered his first quality start of the season for James Madison, pitching a season-long six and two-thirds innings with seven strikeouts and allowing just two runs.
Junior Ike Schmidly led James Madison offensively, going four-for-four with a run scored, an RBI, a double, and two walks. The Dukes opened scoring in the first inning with a sacrifice fly from senior Wyatt Campbell. They added another run in the second inning on sophomore Reece Moody’s sacrifice fly. Campbell extended the lead to three runs by hitting a solo home run in the third inning.
In the fifth inning, senior Jack Cannizzaro hit a two-run home run before Schmidly singled freshman Cameron Aycock home for a sixth run. ULM responded with single runs in both the fifth and seventh innings but could not close the gap further. James Madison sealed their win by scoring four more runs in the ninth inning through singles from junior Kyle Langley and senior Jack Guerrero along with additional sacrifices.
Game notes indicate that five of nine leadoff hitters reached base for James Madison during this game. Moody extended his streak of reaching base safely to sixteen consecutive games, tying Langley for this season’s longest streak on the team. Schmidly finished his weekend performance going nine-for-thirteen at bat with two doubles, three home runs, five runs scored, nine RBIs across three games. Campbell has now homered three times over his last four games.
The Dukes are scheduled to conclude April on Tuesday against Virginia Tech.
