INDIANAPOLIS (Courtesy of JMU Athletics) – For the first time since 2011, James Madison will be playing baseball in June as it received an at-large bid as the three-seed in the Raleigh Regional as part of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, the NCAA selection committee announced Monday afternoon.
 
The Dukes will take on South Carolina, the two-seed, while host NC State faces Bryant, the four-seed. JMU will start open regional play on Friday, May 31 at 2 p.m. at Dail Park, with the regional running through Monday, June 3 if necessary.
 
JMU is making its first appearance in the NCAA Championship since 2011 and 10th overall, with nine coming at the Division I level. It is the seventh time the Dukes have received an at-large bid and the first time since 2002.
 
Featuring a run to the semifinals as the fourth seed in the Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Baseball Championship presented by Troy University, the Dukes sit at 34-23 overall after going 17-13 in conference play. It’s their most wins, both overall and in league play, since 2011. JMU collected three ranked wins during the season, tying the program’s highest ranked win with a victory against then-No. 3 Arkansas in the season-opening weekend. They then took down then-No. 16 Coastal Carolina in the first Sun Belt series of the year and knocked off then-No. 21 and Sun Belt regular season champion Louisiana in the Sun Belt tournament.
 
The lineup of the Dukes is led by All-Sun Belt First Team selection Fenwick Trimble, as he leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.455), RBI’s (61), runs scored (68) and hits (85). He has hit 14 home runs, one of a record-setting five Dukes to log double-digit long balls. Classmate Jason Schiavone has the team lead in dingers, as the junior has smashed 18 of them.
 
The pitching staff is led by graduate Donovan Burke and sophomore Max Kuhle. Burke leads the team in wins (six) and innings pitched (84.0), while Kuhle has a team-low 4.13 ERA and a team-high 67 strikeouts.