MONROE, La. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison freshman Tyler Lutz tossed his first quality start of the season and the Dukes used key hitting to push past ULM, 10-2, on Sunday afternoon to take the Sun Belt Conference baseball series at Lou St. Amant Field.
The Dukes improved to 18-24 (8-13 Sun Belt), while the Warhawks fell to 23-21 (10-11 Sun Belt).
Junior Ike Schmidly continued his hot-hitting weekend to lead the Dukes at the plate, going a career best 4-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI, a double and two walks.
Lutz earned his second win of the year with a season-long 6.2 innings performance, tying his season-high of seven strikeouts while allowing just two runs.
How It Happened
First Inning
With the bases loaded, JMU struck first on a sacrifice fly from senior Wyatt Campbell.
Second Inning
A second sacrifice fly was used by the Dukes to make it 2-0, this time off the bat of sophomore Reece Moody.
Third Inning
Campbell led off the inning by slugging the first pitch he saw over the left field wall to set JMU up with a 3-0 lead.
Fifth Inning
Two innings later, the Dukes connected on another home run. Senior Jack Cannizzaro lifted a 2-0 pitch 437 feet away for a two-run blast. Later in the inning, Schmidly singled in freshman Cameron Aycock to make the score 6-0.
ULM got on the board with a lead-off triple that was followed by a groundout to bring the runner home.
Seventh Inning
The Warhawks scratched another run across on a single to make it a 6-2 game.
Ninth Inning
JMU finalized the series-clinching win with a four spot in the ninth, using singles from junior Kyle Langley and senior Jack Guerrero as well as a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly to take a 10-2 lead.
Game Notes
• The Dukes put five of their nine leadoff hitters on base.
• Reece Moody reached base safely for the 16th consecutive game, tying Kyle Langley for the longest streak this season.
• Ike Schmidly had a torrid weekend, going 9-for-13 with two doubles, two walks, three homers, five runs scored, nine RBI.
• Wyatt Campbell has now homered three times over the last four games.
Up Next
The Dukes finish the month of April on the road, traveling to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, April 28 for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
— JMU Athletics —
