James Madison Loses 2nd Conference Game To Old Dominion Despite Incentive To Win

James Madison started five players with batting averages over .300, and one who was batting .280, and they were shut out in the second game of the series against Old Dominion. They lost 10-0. Even though this series was on the road, the Dukes were dominated by Old Dominion pitching and struggled in the batter’s box.

It is a shame that college teams that have poor seasons do not get something akin to a top draft pick, like in professional sports. In college sports, losing tends to beget losing and winning tends to beget winning. That is bad news for James Madison. Do you think the Dukes will pull off a victory in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament?

James Madison Falters

James Madison struggled in this game. In the second inning, Old Dominion scored two runs. That was on a hit batsman and a fielder’s choice. Old Dominion scored six runs in the fifth inning. That outburst was punctuated by a grand slam home run with two outs. Old Dominion scored two runs in the eighth inning. That made the score 10-0. That was good enough for the game to end. The Dukes lost 10-0.

James Madison struck out eight times in this game and walked only once. In contrast, Old Dominion struck out five times, but received five free passes. They were also hit three times. On the flip side, they doubled twice and hit a home run. The Dukes had only five hits.

Pitching: A Tale of Two Completely Different Pitching Lines

For James Madison, Luke Alexander started. He pitched only 1.1 innings. He allowed two earned runs, walked two, and gave up one hit. He was relieved by Jaden Kinsler, who has closed games for the Dukes, and pitched 3.1 innings. However, he allowed those six seventh-inning runs. He walked two and allowed five hits. The third pitcher for the Dukes was Griffin Madden. He was effective, throwing four scoreless innings, but the damage had been done.

In contrast, Old Dominion used three pitchers, who were unblemished. JJ Gatti started and went five scoreless innings. He only allowed three hits, and he struck out six. He was relieved by Kellen Davis, who pitched two scoreless innings and struck out two. The third pitcher for Old Dominion was Ben Tannon, who pitched 1 inning.

Hitting Stars

There were not many hitting stars for the Dukes. Getting shut out will do that to a team. Keegan Haesler played first base and was 2-for-3 with a double. He was the only Duke with multiple hits in this tough afternoon in the batter’s box.

Old Dominion had several hitters who deserve to be spotlighted. Foremost among them is TJ Aiken, who was only 1-for-4 but hit that grand slam. Zach Leite was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. The top four hitters in the Old Dominion batting order all drove in runs.

What Comes Next?

This is the last conference series of the season for James Madison. After this, they have the conference tournament. Based on how they have played in conference this season, they will draw a difficult opponent. They are likely to exit the conference championship quickly. They are also likely to finish in last place in the conference. They have been so bad this year that they are also very unlikely to play in the NCAA Tournament.