11th Inning Error Gives James Madison the Victory
The James Madison Dukes rallied late and capitalized on a throwing error in the 11th inning to defeat the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 6-5 on Friday night to even the three-game series at one apiece.
What was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt for Kyle Langley turned into much more after the first baseman failed to catch the throw, allowing Jack Anderson to score the winning run as home plate was left uncovered after the error.
The majority of the game saw James Madison ahead and in control. The Dukes didn’t allow a single run through the first five innings and only allowed three hits in that span. The Dukes still had to overcome a late rally by the Ragin’ Cajuns.
James Madison got on the board early when Reece Moody hit a sacrifice fly so Kyle Langley could run in for the score. They added another run in the third due to a throwing error, and Clay Thompson was the beneficiary of the error as he scored, giving the Dukes a 2-0 lead.
Louisiana finally broke through and got a run in the sixth inning as Lee Amedee scored on a sacrifice fly by Trip Dobson, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
James Madison immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning when Moody hit a solo home run to center field, putting the Dukes back up by two.
Louisiana was able to change the momentum with a strong seventh inning. Maddox Mandino started the inning with a double before scoring on an RBI single by Noah Lewis. Steven Spalitta, Donovan LaSalle, and Josh Lim all delivered RBI hits of their own, and the Ragin’ Cajuns used that four-run inning to take the 5-3 lead.
James Madison tied it up in the eighth inning as Wyatt Campbell hit a two-run homer to left center field to tie it at five. That was Campbell’s fifth home run, tying him for second on the team.
Both teams had an opportunity to take the lead in the ninth, but neither took advantage. Louisiana had runners Spalitta and Rigoberto Hernandez on third base on multiple occasions. James Madison had the bases loaded twice, but both ended on groundouts.
The 10th inning saw no runs or hits. Louisiana had an opportunity to end it in the top of the 11th with bases loaded, but LaSalle struck out swinging, Owen Galt struck out looking, and Colt Brown flied out to right field. That set up the bottom half of the inning, where James Madison took advantage of miscues by Louisiana.
Moody led James Madison in this one with two RBIs, one was a home run, and the other was a sacrifice fly. Campbell’s eighth inning homer was the key play for the Dukes as they may not have been in position to force the extra innings without it.
Outside of the seventh inning, Louisiana’s offense was largely quiet. They scored four of their five runs in the inning and recorded five of their 13 hits.
The Dukes improved to 14-15 (5-6) and the Ragin’ Cajuns dropped to 19-12 (4-7).
The game went on for nearly four hours as it wrapped up right before 8 p.m. ET. It will be a quick turnaround for both teams as the rubber match is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET.
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