Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Boxscore

HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison struck early and often as the Dukes led wire-to-wire during a 12-4 victory over the University of Delaware baseball team in a Colonial Athletic Association showdown on Saturday evening at Eagle Field.

Hank Yates (at right) clubbed his first career home run to highlight a 2-for-3 day by the freshman right fielder. Steve Ulaky also roped two hits for the Hens, while D.J. Long knocked in a pair to lead Delaware (20-20, 3-11 CAA).

After scoring first in five of their previous six games, the Blue Hens found themselves in an unusual position when James Madison (23-19, 13-4) broke out of the gate quickly. The Dukes lit up the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the first after Jake Lowery lofted a sacrifice fly to center before Brett Garner swiped home on the front-end of a double steal to grab a 2-0 lead.

Staring at an early deficit, Delaware fought back in the second. Ulaky led off with a single before Yates was hit by a pitch. After both runners moved up on a wild pitch, Long tacked on the squad’s first run with a sacrifice fly to center. Later, UD looked to be in solid position to continue the offensive assault when Dave Anderson singled to left, but the Dukes made two solid relay throws to cut down Yates at the plate.

With the squad’s lead split in half, James Madison tossed two more on the board in the second. Trevor Knight knocked in Shaun Villenave with a long fly ball to left before Lowery punched an RBI single through the right side of the infield that gave the hosts a 4-1 advantage.

Following a scoreless third, Delaware pieced together its largest rally of the game. Ulaky started the inning with an infield single before Yates drove a double down the leftfield line. With a pair of runners in scoring position, Ulaky came home on a wild pitch before Yates scored on Long’s second sacrifice fly of the game.

With the two teams neck-and-neck in the early going, James Madison struck again in the bottom of the fourth. Garner and Lowery poked back-to-back RBI singles to help the squad retake a three-run lead at 6-3. Although the Dukes eventually loaded the bases with one out, Delaware quickly flipped a 6-4-3 double play before any further damage was done.

One inning later, the hosts broke free after hitting their stride in the fifth. Following a leadoff single by Billy Logan, James Madison’s Johnny Bladel and Trevor Knight were off to the races with a pair of RBI triples. Later, Garner notched another run-scoring single to give the squad a generous 9-3 lead.

Although the Hens answered in the top of the sixth with Yates’ solo shot to left, the team could never overcome JMU’s mid-inning surge. Eventually, the Dukes pieced together another three-run rally in the eighth to close out the eight-run victory.

Matt Soren (1-1), who was making his first conference start of the season, took the loss after allowing five runs on three hits in three innings of work. Alex Valadja (2-5) picked up the victory for the Dukes after scattering four runs in six innings.

The two teams will wrap up their three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.