George Washington University Athletics
Baseball Falls To James Madison, 4-2
2/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Dukes won their third straight and pulled their record even at 3-3. The victory also marked the 900th (900-525-7) in the 32-year history of the JMU baseball program. GWU fell to 1-3.
Cochran notched his first decision of the season and improved to 2-0 lifetime against GWU. He did not walk a batter and retired 11 consecutive Colonials from the final out of the fourth inning until sophomore designated hitter Travis Crowder (Manassas, Va./Osbourn) dropped a flare into right field with one out in the eighth inning. Cochran also sat the Colonials down in order in the third.
GWU took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Cochran balked, allowing senior catcher Ross Smirne (Fleetville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) to walk in from third base. Smirne had tied the game at 1-1 with a two-out single, driving in junior right fielder Mike Bassett (Paramus, N.J./Paramus), who had doubled with one out. Smirne advanced to third when sophomore left fielder Tony Dokoupil (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) doubled inside the bag at third base. Cochran struck out senior second baseman Nick Iovacchini (Asheville, N.C./Asheville) to end the inning.
The Dukes scratched across a pair of runs in the seventh to regain the lead. Junior catcher Dustin Bowman (Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Sophomore third baseman Brent Metheny (Moorefield, W.Va./Moorefield) started inning with a single up the middle, followed by a walk to sophomore second baseman Mitch Rigsby (Glen Allen, Va./Hermitage). The bases were filled when senior center fielder Greg Miller (Herndon, Va./Herndon) was hit by a pitch. Junior left fielder Steve Ballowe's (Richmond, Va./Collegiate) sacrifice fly to left field broke the deadlock.
Sophomore shortstop Nathan Doyle's (Wilmington, N.C./Laney) single in the eighth inning chased home sophomore first baseman Eddie Kim (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) with the insurance run. Kim led off the inning with one of 11 walks issued by three GWU pitchers.
Bassett drew a leadoff walk in the ninth against sophomore reliever Travis Ebaugh (Newport News, Va./Woodside), bringing the tying run to the plate. However, Metheny moved from third base to the mound and retired all three batters he faced to get his first save of the season.
