NORFOLK, VA. (March 30, 2001) -- Chris Cochran pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts and Jason Cushman knocked in three runs to lead the Dukes of James Madison University to a 9-3 victory over the Monarchs of Old Dominion Friday evening. JMU is now 15-11 overall and 1-3 in the CAA, while ODU drops to 12-18 overall and 4-3 in the CAA.
The nine strikeouts is a season high for Cochran and two shy of his career high. At one stretch in the game he fanned five batters in a row. This was his second complete game of the season to run his record to 5-1.
Cushman, a second baseman, knocked in Dustin Bowman in the four-run JMU third inning then doubled in Bowman and Jeremy Hays in the fifth. Nathan Doyle and Greg Miller each knocked in two runs as well for JMU.
The Monarchs tied the game at one in the bottom of the first when freshman Allen Strick (Glen Burnie, MD.) scored on a Cochran wild pitch. In the seventh inning, Matt Moye (Beaver Falls, Pa.) singled in Jeff Eure (Pillow, Pa.) and Allen Strick singled home Ryan Dunn (Bristol, Va.).
Strick led the Monarchs with three hits, while David Vilardi (Fishkill, NY.) and Jeff Eure each had two hits on the evening.
The two teams play game the second game of the league series on Saturday at the Bud Metheny complex beginning at 2:00 p.m.
JMU 100 431 000 0-15-1 ODU 100 000 200 3-9-0
JMU Battery: Chris Cochran and Dustin Bowman
ODU Battery: Parker Friske, Ryan Williams (5) and John Oehler
WP: Cochran(5-1) LP: Friske(3-3)