March 10, 2007
HARRISONBURG, VA--David Burns bases loaded double in the top of the ninth with two outs broke a three-all tie to give the Monarchs of Old Dominion (13-7/2-0) a 6-3 victory over the Dukes of James Madison Saturday afternoon (1-12/0-2).
Freshman shortstop Gerard Hall (Washington, DC.)started the ODU rally off with a one out bunt single. Chris Keenan (Chesapeake, Va. )then followed with a single to left and with two outs, Jake McAloose (Virginia Beach, VA. )walked to load the bases. Burns, who hit a three-run homer in the ninth yesterday tagged a 2-2 pitch to leftcenter to give ODU the lead.
Junior reliever Brady Burchill (Hope, ND.) picked up the win in relief. He pitched two scoreless innings for his second win of the year. ODU starter Anthony Shawler (Chesapeake, VA.) pitched six innings giving up nine hits, three walks and striking out 12. Shawler's scoreless streak reached 22 straight innings before the Dukes scored in the fifth.
ODU's first run of the game came on Tyler Belcher's (Bristol, VA.) solo homer in the second inning. In the third, senior outfielder Mike Zahm (Omaha, NE. )doubled home Chris Keenan. Zahm also homered in the fifth to make it 3-0. JMU tied the game in the sixth when Joe Lake singled home Dan Santobianco. Lake also hit a leadoff solo homer in the fifth.
Chris Keenan and Mike Zahm led ODU with two hits each, while Zahm knockedin two runs and Burns three. Joe Lake and Kellen Kulbacki, the 2006 National Co-Player of the Year along with Steven Caseres and Alex Foltz each had two hits for JMU.
The third and final game of the series is Sunday at 1 p.m. at JMU's Long/MauckStadium.