Looney Shuts it Down in the Ninth as Baseball Defeats James Madison

Tuesday, April 2

Harrisonburg, VA

4 PM

University of Richmond

15-9-1

James Madison

18-12

Richmond

James Madison

Photo by: Elle Forte - Elle Forte Photography

Looney Shuts it Down in the Ninth as Baseball Defeats James Madison

04/02/2019 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Richmond won its fourth-straight game Tuesday night, defeating the James Madison Dukes by a 3-1 score at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg. The Spiders had five pitchers combine to allow just the one run on eight hits in the victory. Richmond improves to 15-9-1 on the season, with James Madison falling to 18-12.

Aaron Winkler (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) got the start on the hill. The junior went 4.0 innings without allowing a run. He scattered three hits and struck out five hitters. Brian Craven (Hingham, Mass.) was first out of the bullpen, going the next 2.0 innings. He allowed four hits and struck out two without allowing a run. Lowell Schipper (Santa Monica, Calif.) was the third pitcher used, going 0.2 innings before being lifted for Matt Olson (Mableton, Ga.). Olson tossed 1.1 scoreless innings, with a strikeout. Layne Looney (Dallas, Texas) earned his fifth save of the season, striking out the final hitter of the game to preserve the victory.

The Spider offense did what it needed to do earn the victory. Richmond combined for seven hits, led by a 2-for-4 performance from freshman Mark Ready (Dallas, Texas). D.J. Lee (Frankfort, Ill.) and Brian Schaub (Hatfield, Pa.) each drove in a run, with Sage Bruhl (Northbrook, Ill.), Tyler Plantier (Poway, Calif.), Anthony Forte (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) , Kyle Schmidt (Smithville, Texas) and Schaub all recording one hit.

Richmond scratched across three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take the early lead. Plantier led off with a single and moved up after an Anthony Forte (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) walk. Schmidt laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the throw to try to get Plantier headed to third was wild, allowing him to score and Forte and Schmidt to move into scoring position. Lee followed by lifting a fly ball to the outfield that was deep enough to score Forte. After a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases, Schaub connected on a ground out to third base, allowing Schmidt to score and the Spiders to take a 3-0 lead.

James Madison finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, taking advantage of a couple pitching miscues. The Spiders walked two and hit one to load the bases before a wild pitch allowed JMU to score their only run of the game.

Looney worked the final inning, getting a ground out and a pop out and issuing a walk before striking out the final hitter of the game.

The Spiders are back in action tomorrow as they host they Norfolk State Spartans at 3 p.m. at Pitt Field.

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