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James Madison University
Radford
DUKES COME FROM BEHIND TWICE FOR DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP AT RADFORD
4/1/2009 6:00:00 AM | Softball
RADFORD, Va., April 1, 2009 ? The James Madison softball team recorded its ninth and tenth come-from-behind victories of the season, as the Dukes swept a doubleheader from Radford University at Varsity Field on Wednesday. JMU scored three sixth-inning runs in game one to win 4-2 before getting four runs in the sixth in game two to win 5-1.
The Dukes won their sixth-consecutive non-conference game to improve to 20-8 on the season, while snapping the Highlanders' four-game winning streak and dropping them to 20-8.
With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning of game two, the Dukes got a grand slam from freshman pinch hitter Casey Mansfield (Suffolk, Va./Isle of Wright Academy) to give the Dukes a 5-1 lead. It was the first hit of the freshman's career.
The Dukes loaded the bases for Mansfield as senior third baseman Amber Kirk (Hamilton, Va./Loudoun County) led off with a walk, followed by a single by freshman shortstop Ashley Burnham (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) through the left side and a walk to senior catcher Julia Dominguez (Sterling, Va./Park View). Mansfield worked to a 2-1 count before lifting the Kellie Snooks offering deep over the center-field fence.
It was Radford that struck first taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning getting a lead-off hit by pitch by third baseman Nichole Beall who moved to second on a stolen base. A groundout by first baseman Michele Beall moved the runner to third before an attempted suicide squeeze caught Beall between third and home. Beall broke for home as the throw from the catcher went down to third, stealing home to give RU the lead.
That was all the offense Radford would get as senior right-hander Jenny Clohan (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) shut down the RU offense the rest of the way. She went the distance for Madison, allowing three hits and one earned run, while walking none and stiking out one to improve to 11-3.
