NEWS RELEASE
Feb. 26, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alex Fletcher, JMU Beat Writer
Fletcher@jmuathletics.com
HARRISONBURG, Va. — James Madison University Baseball showed up to impress on Sunday in hopes of closing out the series against Fairfield University with wins in Harrisonburg. After hours our constant rain and snow on Saturday the teams were forced to pause their game in the top of the third and postpone the continuation to the next morning. The Dukes had the lead, 3-0, going into game two of the series on Sunday morning. JMU managed to keep this lead and pull out a win at Veterans Memorial Park, 4-2, just before starting the second game of the Sunday doubleheader and game three of the series.
After a 30 minute break, the Dukes and the Stags took the field again for another seven inning game before Fairfield headed back to their home state, Connecticut. The Dukes did not disappoint in the final game of the series by pulling a 16-4 win on their home turf.
The Dukes’ bats were swinging and their offense shined during the third game of the series with 19 hits and 14 RBIs. JMU set a team record by hitting 5 home runs in a single game for the first time since March 17, 2017. The home runs hitter include sophomore Mike Mancini (1), junior prospective draft pick Fenwick Trimble (1), fifth year transfer student Brendan O’Donnell (2), and junior Coleman Calabrese (1). The team was impressed with their ability to take such a big win in the just the second week of the season.
“That was pretty cool,” Mancini said. “We always talked about it in the preseason and in the fall, but we didn’t think it would happen but, you know, it does. It clicked.”
The Dukes head into the week with a 5-3 record looking to take wins against George Mason University on Wednesday and Cornell University in another home series at Veterans Memorial Park this weekend.
“Every single day is a new day,” O’Donnell said. “We’re not trying to focus on the last game. We come in here with a fresh mentality.”
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