MONROE, La. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison baseball came away with six runs in the fourth inning to take the opening game of its series at ULM, 11-3, on Friday afternoon at Lou St. Amant Field in Sun Belt Conference play.
Pushed up by five hours to miss incoming inclement weather, the Dukes snapped an eight-game losing streak and improved to 17-23 (7-12 Sun Belt). The Warhawks fell to 22-20 (9-10 Sun Belt).
JMU set a new season high in hits with 16, with the trio of senior Wyatt Campbell, junior Ike Schmidly and sophomore Jack Anderson leading the way with three each. Campbell went 3-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI, while Anderson went 3-for-5 with a run scored, an RBI and a career-high three stolen bases. Schmidly had the biggest hits of the game, going 3-for-5 with a double, two homers, three runs scored and five RBI. He tied his career high in hits and runs scored and set a new career high in RBI, becoming the first Dukes with five RBI in a game since Mike Manicini (six) and Fenwick Trimble (five) at ETSU on March 9, 2024.
Redshirt sophomore Holden McKinney earned his first win of the season with three scoreless innings of relief, striking out one and scattering four hits. Senior Jaden Kinsler picked up his first save of the season by throwing the final 3.1 innings, striking out four and allowing just one run.
How It Happened
First Inning
ULM struck first on a sacrifice fly in the first inning of the game.
Third Inning
The Warhawks doubled their lead by scoring a run on a double play.
Fourth Inning
Schmidly put the Dukes on the board and gave them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish by blasting a three-run homer to take a 3-2 lead. Freshman Will Haacke then hit a ground-rule double to score a run and classmate Cameron Aycock followed him with a two-run single for a 6-2 JMU lead.
Seventh Inning
JMU smashed a pair of homers to extend its lead to seven, as Campbell launched a two-run blast and then Schmidly hit his second homer of the game – a 418-foot-long solo shot.
Eighth Inning
With a two-out single, ULM stopped the scoring run to make it 9-3.
Ninth Inning
A pair of runs were added to the scoreboard for JMU, as Schmidly doubled in a run and then scored on a single from Anderson.
Game Notes
• Ike Schmidly became the first Duke to have a multi-homer game since Mike Mancini hit a pair in the Raleigh Regional Final in 2024.
• The 16 combined hits for JMU were the most since collecting 19 against Old Dominion on May 24, 2024 during the Sun Belt tournament.
• JMU has had at least one hitter record three hits in the last four games.
• With runners on, the Dukes batted .526 (10-for-19).
• All nine starters in the batting order recorded at least one hit.
• Wyatt Campbell’s three-hit game tied a season high and Jack Anderson’s three-hit game was a new season high.
Up Next
The Dukes will face the Warhawks in the middle game of the series at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) tomorrow, April 25.
— JMU Athletics —
