HARRISONBURG, Va., April 2, 2008 – Joe “Spanky” McFarland picked up his 500th career victory as a head coach as James Madison University pulled out to a 6-0 lead and defeated Radford University 7-3 in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon at Long Field/Mauck Stadium.
JMU won its fourth in a row to improve to 20-7 overall. Radford dropped its second game in a row while falling to 15-12.
McFarland, coaching his 600th career game at JMU, improved to 500-498-3 in 19 seasons as a collegiate head coach. That record includes a 324-274-2 mark in 11 seasons as skipper of the Dukes.
JMU scored five runs in the first three innings to take command. The Dukes banged out 12 hits while limiting Radford to five, marking the third straight game that the pitching staff has limited an opponent to five hits or fewer.
Freshman John Mincone (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) earned his first collegiate victory after limiting Radford to two walks while pitching the first two innings on a planned staff day for the Dukes. Freshman Turner Phelps (Roanoke, Va./Lord Botetourt) worked three innings allowing only a walk with five strikeouts. Freshman Kevin Munson (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) recorded the final five outs for his second save.
Redshirt senior Joe Lake (Elkridge, Md./Long Reach) reached base four times with three hits, a double, a walk, and two runs scored. Redshirt junior Brett Sellers (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) had two hits, a walk, an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored. Redshirt junior Lee Bujajkowski (Hopewell, Va./Hopewell) and sophomore Alex Foltz (Mathias, W.Va./East Hardy) each hit solo home runs. Freshman David Herbek (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield) had a two-run double.
Sophomore Kyle Starr (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) took the loss for the Highlanders. He allowed five runs on five hits and four walk in 2 2/3 innings. Like the Dukes, Radford also used five pitchers in the game. Redshirt junior Nick Minter (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) was the only RU player with two hits, while also driving in a run.
The Dukes jumped on the board first in the first inning. After a pair of walks, sophomore Matt Browning (Mystic, Conn./Fitch) laced a two-out bloop single to left field to drive in a run. Two more walks brought in the second run for a 2-0 JMU lead.
The first two JMU batters went down in order in the second before Lake laced an opposite-field double to left centerfield and Sellers followed with a single to left to drive him in for a 3-0 lead.
A hit by pitch, a single, and a groundout set up two runners in scoring position in the third inning for the Dukes, and Herbek cashed in with a two-run double down the left field line for a 5-0 lead.
The Dukes padded the lead in the fifth with a solo home run by Bujakowski off the scoreboard in right field
The run became important in the eighth when Radford plated three runs to cut the margin in half. A walk and a hit by pitch put two runners on base before Herbek’s throwing error on a potential double play ball allowed one run to score and kept the inning alive. Minter followed with an RBI single. Munson relieved and surrendered an RBI single before getting a strikeout and a groundout to end the rally. The final run for the game came in the bottom of the eighth when Foltz slammed the first pitch he saw over the fence in centerfield for his fifth home run of the season.
JMU will be at home on Saturday for a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. against Longwood.
