James Madison tied a season high with four runs scored in the first inning last night against Marshall. The Dukes lost this game 9-0. With the win last night, the Dukes improved to 19-25 overall and 9-13 in the Sun Belt conference, while the Thundering Herd fell to 20-25 overall and 10-12 in the Sun Belt.
James Madison redshirt sophomore Holden McKinney and senior Jaden Kinsler combined to limit Marshall to seven hits and three runs to give the Dukes a 4-3 win on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Park in Sun Belt Conference play. It was a rare occasion that the Dukes got good pitching in this game. Do you think this effort will help Madison turn the season around?
James Madison and Marshall Game Summary May 2
Marshall jumped out to a two-run lead in this game as they scored runs in the first and second innings. They just kept adding on. They scored runs in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth innings. In that consistent scoring drive, they had had a few base hits, scored on a couple of outs, and even had a home run.
In getting shut out, there weren’t many offensive highlights for James Madison. The team had only three hits. The top of their batting order, comprised of four batters with batting averages over .300, was held hitless. A team cannot do that and win baseball games.
Hit Streaks
The three-hit game for Reece Moody was the fourth of his career. Hitting streaks are funny. There is a lot of luck in them. To get one, the hitter cannot have the fielders make great plays, and their line drives need to be hits, and their popups need to find grass.
His hitting streak ended as he went 0-of-4. This was not a good day for James Madison hitters. Another factor that could play into hitting steaks ending is the a team can run into a strong pitching performance.
Matchups
Baseball is an odd game. Sometimes teams match up well with certain opponents, sometimes not. The Duke seems to match up well with the Thundering Herd. They have pretty much seemed to match up poorly with most of the other teams they have played this season. Good pitching will make a team look good, and the Dukes are definitely benefiting from that. They are also benefiting from a favorable matchup.
A Long Save
Speaking of good pitching, Jaden Kinsler last night earned James Madison’s first four-inning save since T.R. Williams earned a four-inning save against Marshall on May 6, 2023. It used to be the case that relief pitchers in the big leagues used to have long saves like that all the time, but that does not happen much these days. JMU was definitely hoping for a long save in the Saturday game with Marshall.
The Value Of Good Pitching
Drew Harlow was the starting pitcher for Marshall. He pitched seven scoreless innings. He only allowed three hits and struck out five. It is very valuable to a team to have a good starting pitching performance. If the starting pitcher for a team throws well, the opposing team will score few or no runs.
Harlow’s effort proved that there is no such thing as momentum in baseball. It is only as good as your starting pitcher. He improved to only 4-5 on the year, which is a odd considering how well he pitched. Alex Caudill pitched two innings to get the save, long in his own right.
