WILMINGTON, N.C. – Senior Daniel Hargrave and freshman Cody Stanley both had two hits and drove in three runs as No. 29 UNC Wilmington upended James Madison, 11-6, in the opener of a Colonial Athletic Association baseball series between the top two teams in the circuit Friday at Long Field at Mauck Stadium.

The first-place Seahawks improved to 37-11-1 overall and now lead the CAA by three games over the Dukes with a 21-3-1 record. The Dukes, who entered the series in second-placed, saw their record drop to 31-14 and 18-6.

Freshman Alex Hill joined Hargrave and Stanley with a 2-hit, 3-RBI day as the Seahawks, who tied the school-record for conference wins with 21, recovered from an early 3-0 deficit after two innings. Sophomore Rhett Miller led the UNCW lineup with three hits, tying his career-high set earlier this season at Virginia Commonwealth.

Junior Brad Holt (8-1) won his eighth straight decision by striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings. Holt did surrender 10 hits through and allowed five runs.

JMU sophomore Kyle Hoffman (6-4) struggled with his command from the start and lasted just 4 1/3 innings in taking the loss. Hoffman was tagged for six runs, five earned, on four hits, five walks and three hit batters.

JMU sophomore Steve Caseres, who finished with three hits, including two homers, led off the second with his 16th slam of the season to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead. After recording an out, Holt walked junior Lee Bujakowski and sophomore Matt Browning followed with a 2-run shot to right center that extended JMU’s lead to 3-0.

Hill got the Seahawks on the board with one out in the third with his third round tripper of the season.

Caseres struck again in the bottom of the frame when he drove the first pitch he saw over the right centerfield wall, giving the Dukes a 4-1 advantage.

The Seahawks narrowed their deficit to 4-3 on Stanley’s 2-run shot to center field in the top of the fourth. Hill gave UNCW its first lead of the game with a 2-run single to left later in the inning.

The Dukes threatened to answer in their half of the inning when junior Brett Garner drew a 1-out walk and freshman David Herbek (2-for-4) followed with a bunt single to third. With two outs, senior Joe Lake looked like he was going to drop a bloop single into center, but UNCW senior Jason Appel made a diving catch to close out the inning.

In the fifth, UNCW manufactured a run without aid of a hit. A walk to Appel, an error on an attempted pickoff and a wild pitch moved him to third. Senior Nate Hall then drew a 1-out walk that knocked Hoffman out of the game. Stanley plated Appel with a fielder’s choice to give UNCW a 6-4 advantage.

Junior Brett Sellers opened the fifth with a double to the right field wall and Caseres moved him to third with a ground ball to first. Freshman McKinnon Langston, who finished with two hits, then doubled to right to bring in Sellers and cut UNCW’s lead to 6-5.

Hargrave slammed a 2-run homer to center off reliever Trevor Kaylid in the sixth as UNCW built an 8-5 lead.

JMU looked to draw even in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out rally off Holt. After retiring the first two batters, Caseres singled up the middle and Langston moved him around to third with a single to left center. Freshman reliever Cam Roth snuffed out the rally with a ground out to end the inning.

The Seahawks built a five-run bulge with two more runs in the eighth. Hargrave drove in his third run of the game with a double and Appel followed suit with a RBI double the following at bat.

JMU was able to plate a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 10-6. With two outs, sophomore Alex Foltz singled in Browning, who led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a fielding error on the hit.

Miller tacked on a run for the Seahawks with a RBI single in the top of the ninth.

The series continues on Saturday with the first-pitch slated for 1 p.m.

Notes: Cody Stanley extended his career-long hitting streak to nine games ... Sophomore Kyle Lewis pitched a perfect ninth inning to close out the game ... Both teams combined for six home runs ... UNCW swiped a season-high five stolen bases ... UNCW moved to within one win of tying the CAA single season-record of 22 conference wins, set by James Madison in 2006.