Scouting Report: Analyzing the James Madison Dukes

The No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks will open the 2024 baseball season with a four-game series against the James Madison Dukes starting on Friday afternoon at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.

2023 was the Dukes’ inaugural campaign in the Sun Belt after defecting from the Colonial Athletic Conference. They finished the season at 7th place in their new conference with a 31-25 overall record. It was a surprising result for a ball club that was picked by most media outlets to finish dead last.

“This is a team that last year hit right at almost .300,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said at Wednesday’s press conference. “Won a lot of games. They’re competitive, and I don’t feel like they would have scheduled to come here a couple years ago if they didn’t feel good about what they had in their program.”

James Madison head coach Marlin Ikenberry is entering his ninth season with the program and has compiled a 184-184 record during his time. The Dukes have not made the NCAA Tournament since 2011, when they won their conference’s regular season and tournament title. James Madison’s lone College World Series appearance came in 1983.

After losing some key pieces such as two-way star Jack Cone and cleanup hitter Kyle Novak – who both had batting averages over .300 last year – JMU was picked to finish 10th out of 14 Sun Belt teams this season by the league's coaches. However, the Dukes still have plenty of firepower to challenge the Hogs this weekend to potentially steal a game.

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Outfielder Fenwick Trimble is undoubtedly James Madison’s standout player. As a sophomore in 2023, he batted .342 and led the team in home runs (13), RBI (52) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.083). He is listed as Perfect Game’s 7th-ranked prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft and he was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team.

Trimble is the name that will be circled all weekend on Van Horn’s stat sheet, and stopping his loud bat will be a major key to victory for the Hogs. As a righty, he’s someone that will be a tough out for Arkansas’ lefty starters Hagen Smith and Mason Molina when they take the mound on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

“Really good stats, just a tough out,” Van Horn said of Trimble. “You look at his numbers…he’s the guy they probably built their lineup around. He had a tremendous year last year.”

The Dukes also return the middle infield duo of shortstop Mason Dunaway and second baseman Mike Mancini, who are both solid defensively. Dunaway was a reliable contact hitter at the top of the order, as he finished with a .312 batting average. Mancini led the team in walks by earning 43 free passes and is listed as a top-15 prospect for the 2025 MLB Draft by Perfect Game.

On the mound, the starting pitching duo of Ryan Murphy and Todd Mozoki both return after having the most and second-most innings pitched for the Dukes in 2023, respectively. Both righties had an ERA of 4.89, and Murphy led the team in strikeouts with 51.

Other prominent pitchers for James Madison include senior righty Joe Vogatsky, who had the best ERA on the team at 3.45. The left-handed duo of Jaden Kinsler and T.R. Williams were both effective out of the bullpen as well, with Kinsler recording 36 Ks in 36.1 innings and Williams holding opponents to an impressive .214 batting average.

The numbers show a difference in offensive identity between the two teams, with the Razorbacks focused on power and the Dukes boasting impressive contact-hitting metrics. Arkansas had the statistical pitching advantage last season, and will likely be even better this year with one of the country’s most loaded pitching staffs.

James Madison was also very aggressive on the base paths last season, as they stole 84 bases in 56 games. The Razorbacks’ talented group of catchers will have their hands full this weekend.

“That’s part of their game,” Van Horn said of JMU’s base running strategy. “They’re going to try to hit-and-run and try to advance a runner…we talked about it…In the SEC they don’t run as much…but the non-conference guys…they’re going to try to manufacture runs.”

Arkansas has an obvious talent advantage over James Madison, but anything can happen in baseball – especially on opening weekend. If the Hogs have a rough day on the mound or a cold start at the plate, the Dukes could pull off an unlikely victory in one of these games.

With a loaded slate of high-major opponents in next weekend’s College Baseball Series in Arlington, the Razorbacks will look to hit the ground running with an impressive home showing against JMU. First pitch for the season opener is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT at Baum-Walker Stadium, and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

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