HARRISONBURG, Va. (Interstat) — Parker Noonan delivered a dominant starting performance and Eli Hudgins had a perfect afternoon at the plate as the Radford Highlanders defeated the James Madison Dukes 10-6 in a nonconference baseball game Tuesday evening at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

The Highlanders (10-11) secured a regular-season series split with the Dukes (11-12), having also won the previous meeting on March 10. The result defied pregame projections, as Interstat’s game simulator had forecast a 5-3 James Madison victory, and its ELO system gave the Dukes a 72% probability to win.

The most critical phase of the game came early, as Radford’s pitching immediately stifled a James Madison rally and its offense responded with relentless pressure. The Dukes struck for two unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning, capitalizing on a pair of Radford errors. Ike Schmidly scored on a throwing error during a stolen base, and Reece Moody came home on Jack Guerrero’s groundout.

Facing early adversity, Noonan (5-0 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 2 K) settled in spectacularly. After allowing the two unearned runs in the first, the right-hander did not surrender a hit for the remainder of his outing. He retired 13 of the final 16 batters he faced, with the only blemish being an unearned run in the third that scored on a sacrifice fly following an error. His effort provided essential stability, coming just three days after a difficult relief appearance where he allowed a run without recording an out against Virginia Military Institute.

Radford’s offense, held scoreless through two innings, broke through in the third to take a lead it would not relinquish. They loaded the bases with no outs, and Breckin Nace’s groundout brought in Carrington Aaron. After a pitching change, Brady Powell was hit by a pitch to force in another run, making it 3-2. They extended the lead to 5-3 in the fifth on a sacrifice bunt by Powell and an RBI double from Noah Toole.

Hudgins was the catalyst, going 4 for 4 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. His RBI double in the sixth inning pushed the lead to 6-3. The Highlanders added two more in the seventh on an RBI groundout and a wild pitch, and another in the eighth on Junho Son’s bases-loaded walk.

James Madison chipped away, with Guerrero driving in a run with a double and Wyatt Campbell following with an RBI triple in the sixth to make it 6-5. Ryan Gocio added an RBI double in the eighth, cutting the deficit to 8-6. But Radford’s bullpen, led by Trey Ludy (3.0 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 2 K), closed the door. Ludy allowed just one unearned run over the final three innings. Powell provided final insurance in the ninth with his fourth RBI, a single that scored Devin Parks.

Powell finished 1 for 3 with four RBIs for Radford, which collected 11 hits. Guerrero and Campbell each drove in two runs for James Madison, which had 10 hits but used eight pitchers in the loss. Griffin Polley had the most effective relief appearance for the Dukes, pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

Radford opens a three-game series at home against Longwood on Friday. James Madison travels to face Arkansas State for a three-game set starting Friday.