Ford Throws JMU's First Perfect Game, No. 23/24 JMU Sweeps ECU

Wednesday, April 15

Greenville, N.C.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

33-6

East Carolina

11-33

James Madison

East Carolina

Ford Throws JMU's First Perfect Game, No. 23/24 JMU Sweeps ECU

4/15/2015 8:30:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

GREENVILLE, N.C. – History was made for the James Madison softball team as junior Jailyn Ford threw the program's first-ever perfect game while also breaking the career strikeout record to cap off a doubleheader sweep against East Carolina on Wednesday at the ECU Softball Stadium.

The No. 23/24 Dukes stretched their program-record win streak to 25 games after downing the Pirates by 6-1 and 13-0 scores, improving to 34-6 on the season. ECU fell for the fifth and sixth straight games to drop to 11-34 on the year.

Ford went the distance in game two, striking out 13 ECU batters without allowing a single player on base for the first time in the team's 14-year history. It was also the third time ever that JMU held an opponent without a hit.

Needing just 11 strikeouts to make individual history, Ford also surpassed former JMU great Meredith Felts (2006-09) to become the all-time strikeouts leader at JMU, with 584, besting Felts' 581 career K's.

Freshman Megan Good also tossed a complete game to notch her 20th victory in game one of the doubleheader to join Ford (24 in 2013 and 2014) and senior Heather Kiefer (20 in 2014) as the only 20-game winners in JMU single-season history.

Five player hit at least .500 in the two wins as the Dukes collected a .426 team batting average, while holding the Pirates to just .045. JMU outhit ECU 29-2 while producing 11 extra base hits and two home runs.

The Dukes return to action this weekend when they trek to Newark, Del., to take on Colonial Athletic Association foe Delaware in a three-game series. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday, with noon starts on both days.

Game 2: JMU 13, ECU 0
Junior pitcher Jailyn Ford threw JMU's first-ever perfect game and became James Madison's strikeout queen after she fanned 13 East Carolina batters in a 13-0 victory in game two of the doubleheader. The 13-run margin was the largest victory of the season for JMU.

She passed former Duke Meredith Felts (581), the previous strikeouts record holder, and reached double-digit strikeouts for the sixth time this season. Her 13 strikeouts were the second-highest total during her junior season.

Six players had multi-hit games, led by freshman first baseman Megan Good and junior catcher Erica Field, who both went 3-for-4. Good hit a home run and tallied a career-high five RBIs while Field scored a run and drove in another.

Freshman second baseman Morgan Tolle went 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs and a career-high three runs and sophomore center fielder Taylor Newton was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run. Also accruing two hits were sophomore right fielder Tahli Moore (2-3), who scored twice, and sophomore shortstop Niki Prince (2-5), who notched two RBIs and two runs.

The Dukes scored twice in the first on a Good single and Newton ground out and stretched it to 5-0 in the second when Good hit her eighth home run of the season, over the left field wall. JMU tacked on a run in the fourth for a 6-0 lead and opened the game up in the final inning, scoring seven runs.

In the seventh, Good hit a RBI double to center, and two batters later, Newton made it 9-0 when she drove in two more with a double to right center. Tolle stretched the advantage to double digits at 11-0 with her two-run shot, the third of her freshman season. The Dukes rounded out the scoring on a Prince triple and a Field single.

Lydia Ritchie (0-6) was credited with the loss after conceding five runs (two earned), four hits and three walks in just 3.0 innings. Ashley Cruise gave up eight runs and 11 hits over the final four innings in her relief role.

Game 1: JMU 6, ECU 1
Freshman pitcher Megan Good won her 20th game in the circle, leading James Madison to a 6-1 triumph over East Carolina in game one of the doubleheader.

Good allowed just one run, two hits and two walks, while striking out eight in her seven innings pitched, as she produced the fourth 20-win season by a JMU pitcher in history. She joined junior Jailyn Ford (24 in 2013 and 2014) and senior Heather Kiefer (20 in 2014) as the only Dukes to ever achieve the feat.

Five JMU players had two hits, led by sophomore center fielder Taylor Newton and junior left fielder Hannah Hayes, who both went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Good, Ford and Moore also had two hits apiece.

The Dukes grabbed an early 2-0 lead with runs in the first. After Ford singled to the catcher, scoring sophomore shortstop Niki Prince, Hayes successfully laid down a bunt single, to plate Ford. ECU answered back with its lone run on the day when Kacie Oshiro hit her first career home run to right in the bottom half of the frame.

Good led off the third with a double to right center and scored on a two-out double to nearly the exact same spot by Hayes, giving JMU a 3-1 lead. Madison made it 4-1 in the sixth on a successful double steal, which saw sophomore third baseman Madyson Moran claim home plate.

The Dukes put the game away in the seventh when Newton laced a triple to the right field wall, scoring both pinch runners in sophomore Caitlin Viafora and freshman Jade Fleming.

Taking the loss for ECU was Sarah Christian (5-12), who allowed three runs and eight hits in her 4.0 innings pitched. Caroline Umphlett yielded three runs and six hits in her 3.0 innings of relief.