HARRISONBURG, Va. – With bases loaded and a full count, sophomore Jason Schiavone clinched the series for James Madison with a walk-off grand slam to take down Georgia State, 4-3, on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Park in Sun Belt Conference baseball.
The Dukes pick up their second walk-off win in as many days and move to 19-11, 5-4 SBC while the Panthers drop their sixth straight and fall to 14-17, 4-7 SBC.
Redshirt junior Matt Kleinfelter (3-0) earned the win with an inning of relief after sophomore Todd Mozoki set career-highs behind eight innings of work and seven strikeouts. Schiavone went 1-for-4 at the plate with his first career grand slam.
How It Happened
Second Inning
Like the series opener, the Panthers struck first to break the scoreless tie. After back-to-back one out singles, JoJo Jackson singled up the middle to bring home the first run of the ball game.
Ninth Inning
Georgia State added two runs in the ninth to make it a 3-0 game as the first two batters singled to get on. A wide throw trying to get the lead runner at third followed, loading the bases with no outs. The Panthers then used a pair of fielder’s choices to score the runs.
JMU began to mount its rally beginning with the leadoff batter, as freshman Mike Mancini singled into left field. Graduate Jaylon Lee followed with a weak ground ball up the middle, but a catcher’s interference called put two runners on. After a strikeout, sophomore Coleman Calabrese hit a single just over a jumping Dylan Strickland’s glove to load the bases. Schiavone then stepped up and went down 1-2 before watching a pair of balls to set him up with a full count. He then drove the next pitch over the left field wall to send the Dukes home 4-3 victors.
Game Notes
• The walk-off grand slam is the second walk-off grand slam this season for the Dukes, with Fenwick Trimble hitting one on Feb. 26 to sweep Cornell.
• Todd Mozoki had five 1-2-3 innings and his did not allow a hit between the second and seventh innings.
• After the walk-off win on Friday night, JMU has won back-to-back games on walk-offs for the first time since March 3 and March 9, 2013. The Dukes used a Bobby San Martin two-run blast for an 11-9 win over Hartford in 11 innings before a bottom of the ninth walk-off sacrifice fly from Ty McFarland for a 12-11 win over Hofstra.
Up Next
The Dukes will go for the sweep against Georgia State on Saturday, April 8 at Veterans Memorial Park with a 1 p.m. start time.
— JMU Athletics —
