JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An offensive explosion early and strong execution on the mound powered Jacksonville University baseball to an 8-3 win over Liberty on Saturday night at John Sessions Stadium.
The Dolphins (22-20, 8-9) were outhit 11 to seven, but the pitching staff stranded a grand total of 13 Flames on the bases in the game.
"It was a continuation of what we saw last night with the fight, the fire, the intensity on the field and in the dugout," said Head Coach
Chris Hayes. "There was energy in the ballpark, it was really good to see."
JU struck early, with a four-spot in the first. Back-to-back one out walks to
Scott Dubrule and
Angel Camacho set up
John Cassala's RBI single up the middle.
Jacob Southern then rocketed a ground ball to short that was booted for an error, allowing Camacho to score.
Duncan Hunter hit one on the ground to second that was mishandled again, with Cassala coming in to score.
Cory Heffron walked to load the bases and
Reagan Wright also drew a free pass, driving in the fourth run of the frame. JU left the bases loaded, but held a 4-0 advantage on the scoreboard after one.
Liberty threatened the next inning, loading the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles off of
AJ Jones (6-3). Jones induced a groundball to third and Camacho went home with the throw to get the first out, before a 4-6-3 double play ended the threat without a run coming in.
The Dolphins kept the foot on the pedal in the second, with back-to-back singles starting the frame off the bat of Dubrule and Camacho. Cassala bunted them into scoring position and Liberty lifted its starter. The second pitch thrown by the new pitcher was parked over the left field wall by
Jacob Southern, his fourth home run of the year, a three-run blast that gave Jacksonville a 7-0 lead.
Liberty got on the board in the fourth, when a one-out double came in to score two batters later on an RBI single, but that is all that the Flames managed in seven innings off of Jones, who scattered eight hits, while striking out four and stranding six men in scoring position.
"All year we talked about minimizing that one big inning, and tonight we were able to do it," said Jones. "Defense made some big time plays in some big-time situations and I got that strikeout when I needed to.
"Things were going our way."
Jacksonville got the run back in the fifth, when Wright led off with a single and moved station to station until Dubrule's two-out single to center scored him. It was Dubrule's team-best 15th multi-hit game of the year and he has now reached base in 16 straight contests.
JU led 8-1 until the eighth. New pitcher
Jagger McCoy hit the first batter he faced, walked the second and surrendered a run scoring single, before settling down to retire the next three batters without allowing another run.
Again in the ninth, Liberty managed a run, when with two-outs a close 3-2 pitch was ruled a ball and then back-to-back singles cut it to 8-3, before McCoy punched out the last batter looking to end the game.
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Dolphins, who go for a first series win since March 31 tomorrow at 1 p.m.
