Baseball's Winning Streak Halted at Five By 8-4 Loss to James Madison

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Baseball's Winning Streak Halted at Five By 8-4 Loss to James Madison

HARRISONBURG, Va.? Steven Caseres went 4-for-4 with two home runs to lead James Madison past VMI on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference baseball action at Long Field. The loss snaps a five-game win streak for the Keydets and drops them to 9-13, while the win breaks a three-game losing skid for the Dukes, as they improve to 16-7.

Duke starting pitcher Trevor Kaylid (3-1) picked up the win by surrendering three runs on two swings of the bat, as Tanner Biagini's two-run home run in the first inning gave the Keydets a 2-0 advantage, while Jordan Ballard's first home run of the game came in the top of the fifth. The final four innings on the mound for the Dukes were handled by freshman reliever Turner Phelps, who picked up his first collegiate save while allowing three hits and only one run, with that coming on Ballard's second home run of the day with two outs in the ninth inning.

Keydet starter Lefty Flora (0-2) took the loss for the Keydets, as the Dukes touched him up for five runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings. Adam Kruithof then came on and worked two-thirds of an inning, allowing two more runs on three knocks while working in his second game in as many days. Daniel Wood relieved Kruithof and faced the minimum through his first two innings of work before being chased from the game by a solo home run by Caseres to lead off the seventh inning, his second roundtripper of the day and ninth of the season. Weekend starters Chris Henderson and Michael Bowman each worked scoreless innings of relief to wrap up the day for the Keydets.

After Biagini's two-run shot down the leftfield-line gave the Keydets the early advantage, the Dukes struck back with three runs in the bottom of the second. A two-run home run by ninth-hitter Mike Fabiaschi to centerfield knotted the game, before Alex Foltz scored on a double off the bat of Trevor Knight to pull the Dukes in front. Solo home runs from Caseres and David Herbeck in the third inning brought the advantage to 5-2 through three innings.

Back-to-back walks to lead off the fourth inning chased Flora in favor of Kruithof. The right-hander worked out of the fourth inning unscathed before allowing each of the first three batters he faced in the bottom of the fifth to reach base, as the first two scored on Chris Johnson's two-run single into centerfield. That brought the score to 7-3, as Ballard had connected for his first home run of the day, a solo shot to centerfield, in the top of the fifth.

Wood came on to face the minimum through the next two innings in relief of Kruithof, before his run ended with the solo home run surrendered to Caseres to begin the seventh. The Dukes put a pair of runners on base against Henderson and Bowman but could do nothing else as they held on for the win.

Aside from the heroics by Caseres, the Dukes saw Foltz, Knight and Johnson each collect a pair of hits in the contest, with Johnson driving in a pair, as did Fabiaschi. For the Keydets, A.J. Yoder went 3-for-5 with three singles while Sam Roberts, Justin Hess and Ballard each had a pair of hits in a losing effort.

The Keydets return to action on Friday evening, hosting the first game of a three-game set against Winthrop at 6 p.m. at Gray-Minor Stadium.

Keydet Quick Hits
* Jordan Ballard's two-homerun game is the Keydets' first of the season and the first since Eddie Van Es slugged a pair against UNC Asheville on April 27, 2007.
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Players Mentioned

Jordan Ballard

#26 Jordan Ballard

IF
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Tanner Biagini

#24 Tanner Biagini

IF
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Michael Bowman

#17 Michael Bowman

RHP
6' 3"
Junior
R/R
Lefty Flora

#12 Lefty Flora

LHP
5' 9"
Freshman
L/L
Chris Henderson

#7 Chris Henderson

RHP
6' 0"
Junior
R/R
Justin Hess

#3 Justin Hess

IF/OF
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/R
Adam Kruithof

#9 Adam Kruithof

RHP/IF
5' 11"
Freshman
R/R
Sam Roberts

#4 Sam Roberts

IF/OF/P
6' 2"
Freshman
L/R
Daniel Wood

#13 Daniel Wood

LHP
6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L
A.J. Yoder

#10 A.J. Yoder

IF
5' 11"
Junior
L/R

Players Mentioned

Jordan Ballard

#26 Jordan Ballard

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
IF
Tanner Biagini

#24 Tanner Biagini

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
IF
Michael Bowman

#17 Michael Bowman

6' 3"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Lefty Flora

#12 Lefty Flora

5' 9"
Freshman
L/L
LHP
Chris Henderson

#7 Chris Henderson

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Justin Hess

#3 Justin Hess

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/R
IF/OF
Adam Kruithof

#9 Adam Kruithof

5' 11"
Freshman
R/R
RHP/IF
Sam Roberts

#4 Sam Roberts

6' 2"
Freshman
L/R
IF/OF/P
Daniel Wood

#13 Daniel Wood

6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L
LHP
A.J. Yoder

#10 A.J. Yoder

5' 11"
Junior
L/R
IF