HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – The pitching staff of James Madison baseball allowed two hits and retired the final 14 batters it faced to knock off Canisius on Saturday afternoon, 6-1, at Veterans Memorial Park to secure the series win.

The Dukes evened their record to 3-3 as they won their third straight game, while the Golden Griffins moved to 0-2.

Once again, the Dukes used a balanced attack at the plate as eight of the 10 batters with a plate appearance recorded a hit. Junior Jaden Kinsler moved to 1-1 this year, earning the win on the mound after starting and going five innings, striking out eight while giving up one run and scattering two hits.

How It Happened
First Inning
The Dukes struck quickly, as sophomore Ike Schmidly worked a walk after going down 0-2 in the count before stealing second. Classmate Kyle Langley then singled through the right side of the infield to drive Schmidly home for a 1-0 lead.

Second Inning
Another single was used by JMU to score a run, this time off the bat of freshman Reece Moody with runners on the corners to make it 2-0 Dukes.

Fourth Inning
Canisius got on the board after leading off the fourth with a triple into the left-center gap, followed by a groundout to make it 2-1.

Fifth Inning
JMU regained its two-run lead behind the first career homer for Schmidly, a solo shot to make it a 3-1 game.

Sixth Inning
Junior Jack Guerrero led off the inning with a pinch-hit walk, moved to second base on a sacrifice fly and scored on a double from junior Jack Cannizzaro. Cannizzaro then moved to third on a balk before he himself would score on a wild pitch to give JMU a 5-1 lead.

Seventh Inning
A fielding error at third base allowed senior Coleman Calabrese to reach base, setting up Guerrero to give the Dukes another run as he hit his first career triple to make it 6-1.

Game Notes
• Jaden Kinsler’s eight strikeouts coupled with Jackson Logar’s nine the game prior marks the first time JMU has had starting pitcher’s toss eight strikeouts or more in back-to-back games since Justin Showalter threw 10 followed by Donovan Burke’s 13 against Fairleigh Dickinson on Feb. 25-25, 2022.
• Sophomore Griffin Polley set a new career-high in strikeouts with four and innings pitched with three.
• With 10 total strikeouts today, it marks the first time since 2022 that the pitching staff has had four games of double-digit strikeouts through the first six games of the season.
• The two hits allowed by JMU are the least since allowing just two to Old Dominion in the opening game of the Sun Belt tournament in 2023.
• JMU allowed only five base runners in the form of two hits, two hit by pitches and one walk.

Up Next
The Dukes and Griffs meet on Sunday, Feb. 23 in the series finale at Veterans Memorial Park for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

— JMU Athletics —