Meet the Dukes… Survivors of the Raleigh Regional losers’ bracket
Who’s the Pack playing?
Opponent: James Madison
Mascot: Antithetical Dog | School Location: Harrisonburg, VA | Conference: Sun Belt
2024 Record: 36-24 (17-13, T-4th) | 2024 RPI Rank: 50
2023 Record: 31-25 (15-13, T-7th) | 2023 RPI Rank: 100
2022 Record: 27-26 (12-11, 5th) | 2022 RPI Rank: 112
When? Where? How do I watch?
Location: Doak Field at Dail Park (Raleigh, NC)
Game Time: Sun, June 2 @ 6:00pm
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: NCAA.com
Tell me about this team
James Madison played in a strong Sun Belt Conference this year, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament thanks in part to a late season collapse from fellow Sun Belt colleague Troy. The Dukes helped themselves in that effort with a series win over the Trojans to close the regular season, eventually falling in the semifinals to Georgia Southern.
The resume wasn’t the strongest (11-17 in Q1 and Q2 games this year), but it’s still a solid team. The offense is the strength with three regulars OPSing over 1.000 on the year and two more with OPS figures over .900. Five players have double digit home run totals on the year. More so, the Dukes like to put pressure on opposing defenses while on the bases; JMU has over 100 stolen bases on the season and has laid down over 50 sac bunts.
The pitching staff isn’t necessarily a strength nor a weakness. What they lack in high end arms they make up for with a slew of guys they can toss out at you; nine pitchers have over 33.0 innings pitched on the year. With the deep number of arms, they typically prefer the “opener” approach to starting games, quickly bringing in a second pitcher after the starter has gone through the order once. It’s obviously a strategy that has worked since they find themselves participating in an NCAA Regional.
JMU has showed incredibly well thus far in the Raleigh Regional. The Dukes were one strike away from an opening round victory over 2-seed South Carolina, but ultimately lost, 7-8, on a walk-off home run in extra innings. On Saturday they took care of business against Bryant, ending the Bulldogs season with an 8-1 victory and earlier today sent the Gamecocks packing with a 2-0 victory behind a pair of Mike Mancini home runs and 6.2 scoreless innings of relief from Donovan Burke.
While they may not have the bullpen depth of a squad like South Carolina, the Dukes are a pesky team with some solid pieces. More importantly in their favor is that they only used two arms in the elimination game Sunday afternoon, setting them up well from a pitching perspective heading into the game with the Wolfpack.
(Probable) Pitching Matchup
Sunday: RHP Logan Whitaker (SR) — TBD
Key Players:
(Note: Stats all from before Sunday’s game)
Offense
CF Fenwich Trimble (JR) – .376/.458/.645, 9.9 BB%, 8.1 K%, 16-18 SB. 1st Team All-Sun Belt in 2024 and 2nd Team honoree in 2023. Is 4-for-8 with 3 2B, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB in the Raleigh Regional.
RF Brendan O’Donnell (rSR) – .316/.405/.656, 8.8 BB%, 23.3 K%, 12-16 SB. Grad transfer from Rider where he was a two-year starter and a 2022 All-MAAC selection. Has hit 50 HR over the last three years, so the power is real. Is 4-for-7 with R, 2 RBI, and 1-2 SB in Regional play.
C Jason Schiavone (JR) – .271/.387/.623, 14.0 BB%, 24.8 K%, 8-11 SB. Second season as a full-time starter. Has seen his power jump this year (18 HR). Great arm behind the plate having thrown out 23-of-42 (54.8%) attempted base stealers on the year.
2B Mike Mancini (SO) – .323/.418/.535, 12.4 BB%, 19.7 K%, 29-34 SB. The undersized infielder had a 17-game hitting streak snapped in the Saturday win over Bryant. Has committed only 1 error in his last 30 games.
DH Ryan Dooley (JR) – .311/.410/.473, 13.2 BB%, 10.6 K%, 14-18 SB. The undersized lefty hitter was a 1st Team All-CAA selection in 2022 (JMU switched conferences in 2023). Is 3-for-7 with 3 R, 2 RBI, and 2 BB in Regional play.
Pitching
RHP Todd Mozoki (JR) – 5-1, 6.66 ERA, 50.0 IP, 9.7 BB%, 17.6 K%. Has started 23 of 44 career games including their Raleigh Regional opener against South Carolina, but is really more of an opener than a true starter. In that one he went 2.1 IP allowing 1 ER on 32 pitches. Control is his issue and he walked one and plunked two in his outing against the Gamecocks.
LHP Max Kuhle (SO) – 5-4, 1 SV, 4.13 ERA, 61.0 IP, 11.7 BB%, 25.4 K%. The 6’1, 215 pounder is a key arm for the Dukes, but has yet to appear in Regional play. In his last outing, he tossed 3.2 scoreless innings against Louisiana in the Sun Belt Tournament, striking out four batters.
RHP Joe Vogatsky (SR) – 3-2, 9 SV, 3.63 ERA, 44.2 IP, 9.2 BB%, 24.0 K%. Was drafted in the 14th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Blue Jays but chose to return to JMU for his final year of eligibility. Pitched in each of the first two games of the Raleigh Regional, taking the loss against South Carolina on Friday (1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K) and recording an out on 2 pitches on Saturday against Bryant.
Quick! Fun Facts!
James Madison played in the 1983 College World Series, falling to Stanford (1-3) and Texas (0-12).
Two Dukes alums are playing the MLB level in 2024: RHP Kevin Kelly (Tampa Bay) and RHP Nick Robertson (St. Louis).
JMU also participated in the 2008 Raleigh Regional where they were the 4-seed and fell to both NC State (2-6) and South Carolina (5-7).
The Key To A Win For State
With JMU coming out of the losers’ bracket, pitching is starting to get stressed. The Wolfpack need to take advantage of that and work counts to continue to put stress on the Dukes’ arms.
Prediction
NC State prevails, heading to their second Super Regional over the last four seasons.
Outcome: State wins, 8-4.