Feb. 28, 2009
Game 1
Game 2
HARRISONBURG, Va. - The Leopards nearly pulled off a come-from-behind win in the second game of a doubleheader against James Madison, but the Dukes rallied to win 10-9 in the bottom of the ninth after winning the opening game 5-0. Senior shortstop Daniel Bierce again paced the Leopards with six hits, including a 5-for-5 performance in the second game.
In the first game, the Leopards' offense stalled against the pitching performance of James Madison starter Phelps Turner, who pitched seven shutout innings. He held Lafayette (3-3) to just one hit while striking out seven and walking only four batters.
The Dukes (5-4), meanwhile, tagged Lafayette starter Ryan Hanna early, scoring a first-inning run off a David Herbek solo homer, which ended up being the game winner. The Dukes tacked on another run in the fourth and then scored their final three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The Leopards were held hitless until the sixth inning when Bierce singled to the pitcher with one out. He stole second but that was as far as he was able to advance as a pop up and groundout followed to end the inning.
Freshman reliever Sean McGrath pitched the final two innings for the Leopards and surrounded only one run on two hits but Lafayette failed to put any more runs, or hits, on the board.
The Leopards came out of the gates with all cylinders firing in the second game. Bierce continued to lead the offense, powering a solo shot over the right field fence to give Lafayette the early 1-0 advantage.
Bierce's home run remained the Leopards' only hit, and the game's only run, until the third inning. Jeff Butler continued Lafayette's power surge with a two-run homer to right center, making it 3-0.
The Dukes came back to tie in the bottom half of that inning with RBI singles from David Herbek, Chris Johnson and Matt Browning, and went ahead 4-3 in the fifth inning with a leadoff home run by Trevor Knight.
Joseph Verdon came on in relief in the sixth inning and gave up two more runs on three hits to make it a 6-3 James Madison lead.
The Leopards got back those runs plus two more in the next inning. Bierce singled to third base with one out and scored on an Ian McCutcheon single to left. Matt Hall followed with a RBI single to right center to plate Brad Weiss, who had reached on a walk. Two more Lafayette runs crossed the plate on a fielding error by the Dukes' third baseman to give Lafayette the 7-6 lead.
The eighth inning saw the Leopards push two more runs across the plate as McCutcheon drove in Bierce and Rob Froio with a RBI single down the left field line for a 9-6 lead.
Jack Rems entered in relief in the eighth inning but gave up two runs, forcing Joe Kinney to go to his bullpen and bring in Ethan Perro. The Dukes knocked a RBI double to right center off Perro and a sac fly knotted the game at nine.
The Leopards were retired in order in the ninth and Tyler Chromey came in to pitch the bottom of the inning. He gave up a two leadoff walks and threw two wild pitches before Lafayette called on senior closer Brian Mostek. Mostek allowed another walk and then surrendered the game-winning single to Herbek as the Dukes took the 10-9 decision.
The Leopards open their home season on Wednesday with a 3 p.m. game against La Salle.
Postgame Notes:
- Bierce is hitting .654 with 17 hits in 26 at-bats. Those 17 hits are nine ahead of Rob Froio, who is second with eight hits.
- The all-time series vs. James Madison now stands at 2-2.
