{"id":2436,"date":"2011-05-15T20:38:15","date_gmt":"2011-05-16T00:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2436"},"modified":"2011-05-15T20:38:32","modified_gmt":"2011-05-16T00:38:32","slug":"diamond-dukes-clinch-playoff-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2436","title":{"rendered":"Diamond Dukes Clinch Playoff Birth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/diamondduke.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"2437\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?attachment_id=2437\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/diamondduke.jpg?fit=640%2C479&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"640,479\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"diamondduke\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/diamondduke.jpg?fit=300%2C224&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/diamondduke.jpg?fit=640%2C479&amp;ssl=1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2437\" title=\"diamondduke\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/diamondduke.jpg?resize=384%2C287\" alt=\"\" width=\"384\" height=\"287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/diamondduke.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/diamondduke.jpg?resize=300%2C224&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>The JMU baseball team closed out the\u00a0home season with a sweep of Towson this weekend. The high scoring Dukes got the series started off right witha 13-9 win on Friday night. Catcher Jake Lowery had another monster\u00a0game at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a home run and a triple. He batted in 5 of the Dukes 13 runs to set the school&#8217;s all time single season record.<\/p>\n<p>David Herbek put the Dukes ahead for good in game 2 with a 2 run homer in the 6th inning. It was Herbek&#8217;s 14th home run on the season. Jake Lowery picked up where left off Friday night driving in 2 more on a double. He also walked twice and scored a run.<\/p>\n<p>In the series finale this afternoon, JMU waited out a rain delay and crushed the Tigers 11-1. The offensive outburst was great, but probably unecessary thanks to the way Alex Valadja pitched. The southpaw went 6 strong and only gave up 1 run. Second baseman Bradley Shaban hit a 3 run homer and had 4 RBI on the day and first baseman Matt Tenaglia hit safely for the 19th straight game with a double. Herbek went 2 for 5 and per usual, knocked another run in. He now has 81 on the season in only 51 games. With 4 games left in the regular season, he&#8217;s already set the JMU single season mark and has the 3rd highest single season total in CAA history.<\/p>\n<p>The 3 game sweep moved the Dukes to 34-17 overall and 18-9 in the CAA.\u00a0After scoring in double-digits in\u00a02 of the 3 games,\u00a0JMU is now\u00a021-0\u00a0when scoring more than 10 runs. The Dukes are is currently tied with ODU for first place, but the important thing is that they&#8217;ve already clinched a spot in the 4 team CAA playoffs. Securing the top seed would be nice, but with only 4 teams in the playoffs, it provides very little in the way of an actual advantage. Every little bit helps though and the Dukes will take an advantage they can to avoid losing in the playoffs for\u00a0a second year in a row.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo courtesy of JMUsports.com&#8217;s photo gallery.<\/em><\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D2436&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The JMU baseball team closed out the\u00a0home season with a sweep of Towson this weekend. The high scoring Dukes got the series started off right witha 13-9 win on Friday night. Catcher Jake Lowery had another monster\u00a0game at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a home run and a triple. He batted in 5 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[177,33,162,457],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2474,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2474","url_meta":{"origin":2436,"position":0},"title":"Your Bandwagon Guide to the JMU Baseball Postseason","date":"May 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Diamond Dukes are red hot, fresh off CAA regular season and tournament championships, and headed down to Chapel Hill, NC to play in the NCAA tournament. It sounds like the perfect time for fans everywhere to jump on the bandwagon. At the risk of offending all of the hard-core\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Baseball&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/jakelowery1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2286,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2286","url_meta":{"origin":2436,"position":1},"title":"JMU Has Its Own Bash Brothers","date":"March 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Diamond Dukes have dropped their first CAA series over the weekend and now sit in 2nd place in the CAA. The offense isn't to blame though. Catcher Jake Lowery and and short stop Dave Herbek are putting up some ridiculous numbers and staking a claim to the title of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Baseball&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/jake-lowery-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2671,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2671","url_meta":{"origin":2436,"position":2},"title":"Links Roundup: Dukes Doing Work on the Pitch","date":"July 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a brief look at\u00a0some\u00a0of the JMU related\u00a0stories you might have missed,\u00a0highlighted by some big moments for a couple of former JMU soccer stars,\u00a0CJ Sapong and Christina Julien. Blogger Blair Hawkins says CJ Sapong might be the \"Sporting Kansas City's new face\" and is a strong contender for MLS rookie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"CJ Sapong\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/cj-sapong-2-300x204.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2489,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2489","url_meta":{"origin":2436,"position":3},"title":"Baseball in NCAA Tourney Today!","date":"June 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"REMINDER: JMU Baseball enters play in the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA Baseball tourney today at 1 p.m.\u00a0 Free audio coverage (you can listen at work) will be available on MadiZone beginning at 12:45.\u00a0 The winner will advance to take on the winner of the UNC v. Maine game.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":832,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=832","url_meta":{"origin":2436,"position":4},"title":"Cold Bats Doom the Dukes","date":"May 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Diamond Dukes took the CAA regular season crown by winning every conference series it played in. Unfortunately for the Dukes, their bats went cold and they lost 2 straight to be eliminated from the conference tourney. After a thrilling victory over UNCW to open the tournament, the top seeded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Baseball&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2383,"url":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2383","url_meta":{"origin":2436,"position":5},"title":"Diamond Dukes Sweep Their Way Into Tournament Position","date":"May 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Diamond Dukes took 3 out of 3 against UNCW over the weekend to\u00a0sweep the crucial late season series. The series matched-up the two teams preseason CAA favorites both trying to finish strong and secure a spot in the CAA tourney. The Dukes were on the outside looking in last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Baseball&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2436"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2439,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436\/revisions\/2439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}