Top of the 9th and the Dukes are up 25-9

Football or baseball?

Go Dukes!!

Brian

I LIKE IKE! I realize it is still very early and conference play hasn't begun but damn what a turnaround from two years ago.

(02-25-2017 07:51 PM)JMaddy Wrote:  I LIKE IKE! I realize it is still very early and conference play hasn't begun but damn what a turnaround from two years ago.

+1

Great to see the Diamond Dukes get off to a terrific start so far and to build on last season.

And, welcome back, Brett Johnson! 3 dingers today to add to the 1 he hit at Wofford yesterday. Wow! 5 on the season puts him up near tops in the nation. (I know of at least 1 other with 5 HR's on the season...will try to check the NCAA stats tomorrow)

Let's get an Upstate Sweep tomorrow, guys. Woohoo!!

Hopefully this great start and FREE admission will get the fans out for the home games!

I have a lot of faith in Ike and liked this hire from the beginning. Any coach who can make VMI competitive with the states best programs can do as much and more at JMU.

Last year was affirmation that the right hire was made. This year will be even better. Once he has a full roster of his players, I believe we will be making regionals and perhaps advancing beyond them.

(02-26-2017 08:19 AM)jmuroadwarrior Wrote:  Hopefully this great start and FREE admission will get the fans out for the home games!

If the boys keep it up, the timing of this promotion may be things geniuses are made of. Please don't tell me this was Bourne's idea, I will give him credit for allowing it (of course he had to go to King to have it blessed). Let's hope they can keep up the success and follow it with year-over-year teams we want to get behind. With a solid program, folk will want to give to JMU and pay for a game ticket "again". Longhorn has been silent, but knowing he's a huge BB fan, I know he's beaming right now. He simply doesn't want us to know that he's capable of showing joy.

(02-25-2017 02:18 PM)Dignan Wrote:  

(02-25-2017 01:09 PM)Navyduke 07 Wrote:  I miss those days when Kulbacki was launching bombs and breaking windows in ISAT.

Wait, from the field next to Garber?

Slight exaggeration but yes. 06/07 year we had three of nations top hr hitters I think (kulbacki, cesares, stoneburner? Been a while). May not have been isat but I am pretty sure a few landed on I-81.

(02-26-2017 12:06 PM)Navyduke 07 Wrote:  

(02-25-2017 02:18 PM)Dignan Wrote:  

(02-25-2017 01:09 PM)Navyduke 07 Wrote:  I miss those days when Kulbacki was launching bombs and breaking windows in ISAT.

Wait, from the field next to Garber?

Slight exaggeration but yes. 06/07 year we had three of nations top hr hitters I think (kulbacki, cesares, stoneburner? Been a while). May not have been isat but I am pretty sure a few landed on I-81.

Did some digging. Kulbacki was #1 (24), cowgill #2 (23), schill had 14 and was just outside the top 50. We had 101 (1.71 per game) bombs that year, second to Delaware at 111.

NCAA has a nice site to look up old data.

http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/rank...rtCode=MBA

http://static.jmusports.com/custompages/...lstats.pdf

1-0 Dukes in the 3rd

Dukes show they can win in a slugfest yesterday and Silvestri solid today in a pitching duel. 2-0 Dukes in the 6th

2-1 dukes holding on to the lead batting in top 8th

Keep bring the updates. I watching the girls.

Evans shuts the door and Dukes improve to 6-1 on the season!! Great to show we can win a pitching duel as well. Again just excellent job by the middle relievers, today it was Kelly bridging the way to Evans. Dukes win 2-1

Diamond Dukes sweep the weekend and move to 6-1 on the season. Great to see continued excellent pitching and defense as the Dukes win today 2-1...and, another one on an opponent's home field...that's 4-0 on opponent's home fields so far this season.

Proud of the Dukes. I'm glad our baseball program is returning to respectability. Spanky killed the program but Ike appears to have revived it.

Yesterday, we gave up 9 runs but the offense exploded for 25. Today, the team showed it can win a low-scoring affair just 24 hours later.

Great signs. Has to be a fun ride home for the second Sunday in a row for these guys.

Next up... home opener vs the Ticks, Tuesday at 3pm. Hopefully the guys will get some fans out to show appreciation for the solid start...though, rain is in the forecast for Tuesday afternoon into evening.

Congrats to Brett Johnson...named this week's NATIONAL player of the week.

Well done.

http://www.jmusports.com/news/2017/2/27/...-week.aspx

So the only team we've lost to is St. Johns who is still undefeated.... What a great start to the year for the team!

Home opener today against Richmond at 3pm. Audio online link at jmusports.com. UR is 3-4 on the season.

Dukes travel to Maryland (1-5) Wednesday - 4pm first pitch.

Rain/t'storms could affect both games.

(02-28-2017 08:51 AM)PurpleRain Wrote:  So the only team we've lost to is St. Johns who is still undefeated.... What a great start to the year for the team!

Meanwhile, defending champ Coastal is 4-4 and is barely in the rankings at 23. If our pitching can be consistent this is going to be a VERY dangerous team, given our offense's track record.

And, yes, I know consistent pitching in college is a bit of a nebulous term, but I am thinking a team ERA in the 4-5 range. If we give up 5 runs a game, I have no doubt our offense can score 6. Currently, we are averaging 7.6 runs/game with a team ERA of 3.34. My biggest concern is our strikeout rate; currently the team strikes out twice as often as they draw walks. Not sure how important that is to Ike given the aggressive approach we seem to have at the plate, but I'd like that rate to be cut to maybe 1.5 by the time the CAA schedule starts.