NORFOLK, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison finished its regular season with a 7-3 win over Old Dominion in Sun Belt Conference baseball at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex on Saturday afternoon.
The Dukes snapped a six-game skid and finish the campaign at 21-32 (11-19 Sun Belt), while the Monarchs fell to 29-25 (15-15 Sun Belt).
Redshirt sophomore Clay Thompson and sophomore Reece Moody each recorded three hits, a run scored and an RBI. Thompson tied his season high in hits and added a double, while Moody tied his career high in hits and stole two bases to increase his tally to 35 this season – tied for fourth most in a single season at JMU.
Freshman Tyler Lutz earned his fourth win of the season, going a career-long eight innings while striking out two. It is the Telford, Pa native’s third quality start in his last four appearances on the mound.
How It Happened
Third Inning
JMU put five runs on the board to break the scoreless tie, beginning the scoring with a two-run homer off the bat of junior Kyle Langly – his fifth of the season. A single from Thompson added a run before senior Jack Guerrero’s two-run double capped the scoring.
Fifth Inning
ODU got on the board on an error to make it 5-1.
Seventh Inning
Guerrero regained the Dukes’ five-run lead by driving in a run on a sacrifice fly.
Eighth Inning
Connecting for his career-high-tying third hit of the day, Moody drove in a run with two outs to make the score 7-1 in favor of the Dukes.
A leadoff homer and a two-out single added two runs for ODU to make the score 7-3.
Game Notes
• The Dukes batted .353 (6-for-17) with runners on, .364 (4-for-11) with runners in scoring position and .375 (6-for-16) with two outs.
• With two stolen bases, Reece Moody finishes the year with 35 which ties Rich Thompson for the fourth most in a JMU season.
• This season’s JMU team becomes the fourth team in program history to steal over 140 bases, finishing with 143 after stealing five today.
• Tyler Lutz’s eight-inning performance was the longest start by a Duke since Max Kuhle pitched a nine-inning complete game on May 2 last season.
• With its win in the baseball regular-season finale, JMU captured the 2025-26 TowneBank Royal Rivalry Challenge over ODU by a 9.5 to 7.5 margin.
— JMU Athletics —
