James Madison Blows 8-2 Lead, and Loses to Arkansas State 11-9

James Madison looked to even their record in a game Friday at Arkansas State. They were unsuccessful with an 11-9 loss. The Dukes benefited early from getting their star, Josiah Seguin, back. He paid immediate dividends.

Arkansas State, like James Madison, came into this game 3-3 in the Sun Belt Conference; they are 17-8 overall. They came into this game with a much better record than the Dukes. Baseball is a team game, and as such, rarely does one player make the difference, but Seguin was important to the first two runs the Dukes scored. Do you think one player can sway a baseball game?

James Madison and Arkansas State Scoring Summary

In the first inning against Arkansas State, Seguin doubled, and Kyle Langley scored. Then he scored on a passed ball. It was 2-0 James Madison. In the second inning, Wyatt Campbell doubled and drove in Clay Thompson. Then, Langley singled, and Wyatt Campbell scored. In the bottom half of the second inning, Derek Martinez hit a two-run home run. Cason Campbell scored. It was 4-2, Dukes.

In the third inning, Thompson hit a two-run home run. Jack Guerrero scored. It was 6-2 James Madison. In the fifth inning, Thomson reached on an error. On that play, Ike Schmidly scored. Thompson then stole second base, and Guerrero scored. That made the score 8-2 JMU.

In the bottom half of the fifth inning, Campbell hit a three-run home run for Arkansas State. Patrick Engskov and Evan Griffis scored. The score was 8-5, James Madison. In the sixth inning, Ben Barrow scored on a passed ball. That made the score 9-5 in favor of the Dukes.

However, in the seventh inning, Aidan Houseworth hit a home run for Arkansas State, and Campbell scored. Then, in the eighth inning, Arkansas State tied the game at 9 on a two-run home run by Jack Henry Williams. Raul Torres scored.

In the eighth inning, Jack Henry Williams hit a home run for Arkansas State to tie the game at 9. However, that was not all of the fireworks in the inning. Derek Martinez hit a home run and Campbell scored. It was 11-9 Arkansas State. That was the final score of the game.

Player Of the Game

For driving in and scoring a run in the first inning of his first game back, James Madison University Shortstop Josiah Seguin was the player of the game. In the first inning, he doubled in a run, and the team scored on a passed ball. That got the Dukes off on the right foot. Seguin finished the game 1-of-4, with that run batted in and that run scored. There were multiple hitting stars for Arkansas State, but Martinez was 2-of-4 with two home runs.

Turning Point

The turning point of the game was in the seventh inning, when Houseworth hit a two-run home run. They cut the JMU lead to 9-7. That was the first of three end-of-game home runs for Arkansas State. They took the lead in the eighth inning. When they hit two more home runs. So, JMU blew an 8-2 lead.

Frequently Asked Questions

James Madison lost this Conference game 11-9. In losing, the Dukes fell to 11-13. They blew an 8-2 lead. The player of this game had been out for a couple of weeks, but he came back and doubled in a run and later scored. Seguin is the player of the game. For the rest of the game, he failed to reach base. The turning point of this game was in the seventh inning when Houseworth homered to draw Arkansas State to within 2 at 9-7. Saturday, these two teams play again at 7 p.m.

Parting Shots

This was an important game for James Madison to win. They were way ahead, with an 8-2 lead. They came into this game 11-12 on the season; now they dropped a game, in the worst way imaginable. They are now 11-13. The game was also important because it was a Conference game. It is fair to wonder if JMU can come back from this horrid loss. We will see.