JMU Holds on as Late Radford Rally Falls Short

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Senior first baseman Eddie Kim (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) had a pair of three-run homers among his five hits to power James Madison to a 16-8 non-conference baseball win against visiting Radford Tuesday afternoon at Long Field. (Box Score)

The Dukes, who pulled away with seven runs in the eighth inning, moved their record to 15-11 overall while Radford fell to 5-13. JMU has won the last six meetings in the series.

Kim finished the afternoon 5-for-5 to tie his career high for hits in a game and drove in seven runs in a game for the second time this season. He now has nine home runs and 34 RBI for the year.

JMU freshman second baseman Michael Cowgill (Lexington, Va./Henry Clay) turned in a four-hit performance and tied a school record by tripling twice. He is the eighth player in JMU's 34-year baseball history to accomplish the feat. Cowgill drove in three runs.

Radford sophomore first baseman Mark Fleisher (Glen Allen, Va./J.R. Tucker) launched his second homer of the season, a two-run shot to right that gave the visitors a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. He finished with four RBI.

Kim's first homer gave the Dukes a 3-2 lead in the first, and his second blast went to straight-away center field to boost the Dukes' lead to 7-2 in the second.

Trailing 9-2 after three innings, the Highlanders plated six unanswered runs to pull to within 9-8 in the top of the eighth. The serious charge began in the sixth as senior left fielder Nat Hodges (Rocky Mount, Va./Ferrum) and sophomore second baseman Alan Ashworth (Danville, Va./Tunstall) hit back-to-back, one-out singles. Hodges advanced to third on Ashworth's hit, and the duo executed a double steal to score the first of four runs in the inning. RBI-singles from junior Stuart Ritchie (Bendingo, Australia/Walters State) and freshman David Landman (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) sandwiched Fleishers' grounder that chased home another run. Fleisher's sacrifice fly in the eighth made it a one-run game.

Kim started the JMU seven-run eighth inning with the first of his two singles in the frame. Cowgill and freshman Skyler Doom (Yorktown, Va./York) each had RBI-triples in the inning.

Senior center fielder Travis Ebaugh (Newport News, Va./Woodside) and freshman third baseman Nate Schill (Audubon, N.J./Audubon) each added three hits and an RBI to the JMU assault.

Senior right-hander Mike Trussell (Newport News, Va./Menchville) evened his mound record to 2-2. He worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, all earned, on nine hits and two walks while striking out four. Freshman left-hander Greg Nesbitt (Drumore, Pa./Solanco) pitched two innings of shutout relief to earn his first collegiate save.