HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison baseball scored four runs in the first inning and 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.
The Dukes improved to 19-25 (9-13 Sun Belt), while the Thundering Herd fell to 20-25 (10-12 Sun Belt).
Sophomore Reece Moody tied his career high in hits by going 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored, adding a stolen base to increase his season total to 31.
McKinney went a career-long 5.0 innings pitched to even his season record to 2-2, setting up Kinsler to earn his second save of the season. Kinsler allowed a double to the first batter he faced and then retired the next 12 to complete four scoreless innings.
How It Happened
First Inning
Three batters into the bottom of the first, JMU took a three-run lead as Moody and junior Josiah Seguin hit back-to-back doubles ahead of junior Ike Schmidly’s 10th homer of the season. Senior Jack Guerrero capped the scoring with a two-out single up the middle for a 4-0 lead.
Second Inning
Marshall put its first run on the board with a two-out double.
Sixth Inning
The Herd brought themselves within one after a pair of singles put runners on the corner, using a double and a groundout to make it 4-3.
Ninth Inning
After coming in with runners on the corners and allowing the double, Kinsler retired the next 12 batters he faced and culminated the win with a pair of strikeouts.
Game Notes
• The four runs for the Dukes were the most they have scored in the first inning since scoring the same amount in the first of game one of the Le Moyne doubleheader on Feb. 21 this season.
• The three-hit game for Reece Moody was the fourth of his career.
• JMU evened its record in one-run games to 5-5.
• Jaden Kinsler earned JMU’s first four-inning save since T.R. Williams earned a four-inning save against Marshall on May 6, 2023.
Up Next
The middle game of the series is set for tomorrow, May 2 with a 4 p.m. first pitch at Veterans Memorial Park.
— JMU Athletics —
