Spanky McFarland recorded his 500th victory in 17 JMU seasons.
TOWSON, Md. -- Matt Tenaglia homered in the 11th inning and Kevin Husum closed out four relief innings for the win as James Madison topped Towson 3-2 to clinch the Colonial Athletic Association baseball series on Sunday.
JMU improved to 14-26 overall and 6-8 in the CAA. Head coach Spanky McFarland recorded his 500th victory in 17 JMU seasons to improve to 500-430-4 at the helm of the purple and gold. TU dropped to 20-19 overall and 2-9 in the league.
The Dukes held a 2-1 lead heading into the eighth inning only to see Towson’s Peter Bowles tie it with a solo home run. The tie held into the 11th inning when Tenaglia led off with his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to left center.
The Tigers bunted the tying run to second base after a leadoff walk, but Husum shut the door to improve to 3-0. He worked four innings of relief allowing the tying run in the eighth with five strikeouts. Mark Gunst tied his career high with 6.2 innings pitched with one run allowed on six hits.
Husum aided his pitching effort with three hits, including a pair of doubles. Kyle Weston and Nick Merullo each added a pair of hits.
Bruce Zimmermann allowed two runs, one earned, in seven innings as the Towson starter. Brandon Gonnella suffered the loss with one run allowed in four innings. Bowles had two hits with the solo home run. Gonnella also had two hits on offense.
JMU grabbed the lead in the first inning on a RBI single by Ty McFarland. The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the frame on a RBI double by right fielder Dominic Fratantuono.
The Dukes took the lead again in the fifth on Husum’s RBI double. The 2-1 lead lasted until the eighth when Bowles homered to left field on the first pitch of the inning.
