UNCW begins road trip with win over James Madison

HARRISONBURG, VA (WWAY) — The UNCW baseball team fell behind early on Friday against JMU, but they still managed to win. Check out our game highlights.

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HARRISONBURG, VA (UNCW) — Senior Ryan Foster went seven strong innings and sophomore Austin Magestro retired all six batters he faced for the save as UNCW clipped James Madison, 5-3, in the Colonial Athletic Association series opener on Friday at Veterans Memorial Park.

The Seahawks improved to 35-11 overall and 14-3 in the conference while the Dukes dipped to 18-28 and 8-11. UNCW has won 20 of its last 22 games.

Foster (11-1) picked up his nation-leading 11th win of the season to set a UNCW record for seniors. The righthander limited JMU to two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four.

Magestro picked up his second save of the season.

Gavin Stupienski and Zack Canada both finished with two hits and a RBI. Kennard McDowell tied the game at 1-all in the fifth inning with his sixth home run of the season.

Brett Johnson was the only Duke with two hits while Ky Parrott hit his fourth homer of the season.

Starter Aaron Hoover (5-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs over 5.1 innings.

Up next: The series continues with a 4 p.m. start on Saturday. Alex Royalty (7-2) will get the start for UNCW while the Dukes counter with Brandon Whithers (2-6).

Home Runs: UNCW – McDowell (off Hoover in the fifth, leadoff); JMU – Parrott (off Foster in the eighth, leadoff)

How it happened: UNCW grabbed the lead, 2-1, with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. McDowell’s round tripper tied it in the fifth and Robbie Thorburn gave UNCW the lead with a bases-loaded ground out to the right side. The Seahawks would add two runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth to push the lead to 5-1.

Inside the box score: UNCW went 5-for-17 with RISP while JMU was just 1-for-7 … Foster allowed just two hits with runners on base and recorded 13 outs on ground balls … UNCW forced JMU starter Hoover to throw 105 pitches in just 5.1 innings.

Notes: Nick Feight and Steven Linkous extended their hitting streak to 11 and 10 games, respectively … UNCW improved to 6-8 on the road … Foster raised his record to 18-2 over the last two seasons and now has a career record of 21-5 … UNCW is 30-3 when hitting a home run and 29-3 when out-hitting the opponent … Steven Linkous reached base for the 33rd consecutive game and is tied with Gavin Stupienski‘s mark from last season, good for fourth in the UNCW record books.