James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
James Madison University
Delaware
SOFTBALL TAKES TWO FROM DELAWARE, PULLS INTO FIRST-PLACE TIE
4/11/2007 4:00:00 AM | Softball
The Dukes improved to 26-14 overall and to 8-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association, pulling into a first-place tie with Hofstra. The Pride split with Towson on Saturday, but still owns the tie-breaker against JMU for CAA tournament seeding by virtue of the 2-1 series win earlier this season.
The Blue Hens fell to 13-15-1 and to 5-6 in league play.
James Madison blasted five home runs on Saturday, plating nine of the 13 runs, while the pitching staff held Delaware to one run and seven hits.
Game two was a pitcher's dual between Meredith Felts (Greenville, N.C./J.H. Rose) and Samantha Shawn. Julia Dominguez (Sterling, Va./Park View) lead off the second inning with a solo shot (5) and was the only run through six innings. Both the Dukes and Blue Hens had runners reach third in the sixth inning but no one was able to reach home until George blasted a three-run home run (5) to center in the top of the seventh which gave JMU a 4-0 lead.
Felts finished off the Blue Hens in the bottom of the seventh to earn her 11th win on the season and second shutout of the week. She gave up only three hits while striking out five in the complete-game effort.
Each team got on the board in the first inning of game one when George hit a solo shot (4) to lead off the game. Delaware first baseman Michelle Kenney hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first that plated Allison Borchers. JMU added eight more runs in the game and kept Delaware scoreless the rest of the way behind the pitching of Jenny Clohan (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run).
Jenn Chavez (Upland, Calif./Upland) blasted a solo shot (6) to left field in the third inning and Clohan added a three-run homer (2) in the fourth after Brittney Lyddane (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) scored on a throwing error by the catcher, which put the Dukes up 6-1 after four innings.
Chavez added another RBI in the sixth with a double to right-center that plated Clohan, and Dominguez hit an RBI single that plated Chavez to give JMU an 8-1 lead through six innings.
The Dukes added the ninth and final run in the seventh when Sally Smith (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee Davis) singled to right field and Courtney Simons (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) scored from third.
Clohan picked up her 10th win of the season while giving up one run, on four hits, and striking out three in a complete game.
The Dukes conclude their conference series with Delaware Sunday at noon.
