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April 24, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team returned to home action and hosted the James Madison Dukes this afternoon at the UVa Baseball Field. The Cavaliers entered their game with the Dukes fresh off an ACC series victory over the #12 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels this weekend (UVa won two of three games with UNC) and were looking to post their 20th win of the season. James Madison was looking to record its 30th victory of the season and to turn its current seven-game win streak to eight. JMU did just that. After the Cavaliers pulled out to an early 1-0 lead, the Dukes fought back and scored three runs in the final two innings en route to a 3-1 come-from-behind victory.
Virginia scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning to take an early 1-0 lead. UVa left fielder Ryan Kalamaya (2-3, run) singled to right field to lead off the inning for the Cavaliers. Michael Floyd hit a ball sharply to JMU third baseman Mitch Rigsby in Virginia’s next at bat. Rigsby fielded the ball, but then overthrew first baseman Eric Bender, sending Kalamaya to third base and Floyd to second base on the throwing error. Two batter later, David Stone hit into a RBI-fielder’s choice that scored Kalamaya to give UVa a one run lead.
The game would remain 1-0 in favor of Virginia until the top of the eighth inning when JMU tied the game at 1-1. Jeremy Hays (1-5, run) singled to left-center field to begin the inning for James Madison. Rigsby then moved Hays along to second base on a sacrifice bunt in the Dukes’ next at-bat before Pat Cunningham (1-3) singled to left-center field, advancing Hays to third base. James Madison’s next batter, Eric Bender (1-4), hit a RBI-single to center field to score Hays, knotting the score at 1-1.
JMU pitcher Mike Trussell kept the UVa batters under control in the bottom of the eight inning, much like he did for a majority of the game, to set up the Dukes ninth inning run. T Riley (2-3, run) singled to right field before stealing second base to being the ninth inning of play. Rich Thompson (1-5, run) then executed a beautiful bunt down the third base line and reached first base on an infield hit while advancing Riley to third base. James Madison’s next batter, Greg Miller, grounded out to second base in his at-bat, but not before gathering a RBI when Riley scored on his appearance to give JMU its first lead of the game at 2-1. Thompson moved to second base on Miller’s ground out and eventually came around from second base to score the Dukes third run of the game when UVa shortstop Eric Christensen overthrew first baseman David Stone on a ground ball hit by Hays. That would be all the scoring JMU would need, as Trussell would not relinquish his teams 3-1 lead.
Trussell struck out three of the last four Virginia batters he faced to end the game and seal James Madison’s 3-1 win as he gathered his fourth win (4-2) of the season as a pitcher. Trussell threw a complete game and allowed only one run (unearned) on six hits while recording four strikeouts. UVa’s Mark Hurrie (RHP) started the game and threw five strong innings in a no-decision. Hurrie allowed only three hits and tallied three strikeouts while holding JMU scoreless in his appearance. The Cavaliers’ Chris Marinak (RHP) was dealt the loss after giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits through 0.2 innings of work. Marinak fell to 0-3 on the year with the loss.
With the defeat, Virginia’s record falls to 19-25-1 overall, while the win improves James Madison’s record to 30-15 on the season. The Dukes have now won eight consecutive games which matches their season-high win streak set earlier this year from March 3-12. Included in the previous eight-game win streak was a 14-6 victory over UVa in Harrisonburg, Va. on March 8th.
The Cavaliers will return to home action on Tuesday, April 25th when Virginia hosts the UNC-Greensboro Spartans. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. and will be played at the UVa Baseball Field. The Dukes will return to action on Tuesday, April 25th when they travel to College Park, Md. face the Maryland Terrapins. That contest is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be played at Shipley Field.