James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Friday, April 18
Harrisonburg, Va.
5 p.m.
James Madison University
21-21, 7-10
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Southern Miss
20-24, 7-9
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Southern Miss
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James Madison
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Clutch Hitting Helps Dukes Claim Series Win Against Lady Eagles
4/18/2025 9:58:00 PM | Softball
HARRISONBURG, Va.- In a back-and-forth affair, Lily Romero's performance at the plate came in clutch, as James Madison softball downed Southern Miss by a score of 7-5 to claim the series victory on Friday night in Sun Belt Conference play at Veterans Memorial Park.
Romero's three-RBI night was the difference in the ballgame, as both of her hits tied or put JMU (21-21, 7-10 SBC) ahead of Southern Miss (20-24, 7-9 SBC), as she finished going 2-for-3 with a run scored, combined with the three driven in.
Payton List had a statement-making three-run home run to break a 2-2 tie in the fourth, as she launched a 3-1 pitch soaring over the left-center field fence for her 12th home run and 10th multi-RBI game of the season.
The redshirt sophomore also came on in relief of Kirsten Fleet, going three innings to allow just one earned run, on two hits and striking out three, in line for her ninth win in the circle.
Reed Butler, Kylee Gleason, and Raegan Wall registered timely hits as well, with Abbie Campbell responsible for the other RBI on a groundout in the bottom of the fourth.
Hannah Christian and Ryanna Valdivia paced Southern Miss with a two-run home run each, as Carrie Green also tallied two hits in Friday's contest.
The Dukes cashed in on five errors made by the Southern Miss defense, as their seven runs were all unearned on the Lady Eagles' trio of pitchers.
How It Happened
Second Inning
Fourth Inning
Top of the Fifth Inning
Bottom of the Fifth Inning
Romero's three-RBI night was the difference in the ballgame, as both of her hits tied or put JMU (21-21, 7-10 SBC) ahead of Southern Miss (20-24, 7-9 SBC), as she finished going 2-for-3 with a run scored, combined with the three driven in.
Payton List had a statement-making three-run home run to break a 2-2 tie in the fourth, as she launched a 3-1 pitch soaring over the left-center field fence for her 12th home run and 10th multi-RBI game of the season.
The redshirt sophomore also came on in relief of Kirsten Fleet, going three innings to allow just one earned run, on two hits and striking out three, in line for her ninth win in the circle.
Reed Butler, Kylee Gleason, and Raegan Wall registered timely hits as well, with Abbie Campbell responsible for the other RBI on a groundout in the bottom of the fourth.
Hannah Christian and Ryanna Valdivia paced Southern Miss with a two-run home run each, as Carrie Green also tallied two hits in Friday's contest.
The Dukes cashed in on five errors made by the Southern Miss defense, as their seven runs were all unearned on the Lady Eagles' trio of pitchers.
How It Happened
Second Inning
- Ryanna Valdivia knocked in the first two runs for Southern Miss on a two-run home run to left-center
Fourth Inning
- Campbell reached on a fielder's choice which caused Cali Legzdin to score from third, putting the Dukes on the board
- Romero singled to left field to tie the game up at one apiece, 2-2
- List erupted for a three-run home run over the left-center field wall to give JMU its first lead of the night, 5-2
Top of the Fifth Inning
- Hannah Christian made it a one-run ballgame with a two-run home run to cut the lead to 5-4
- With one out, Paris Ferguson tied the game at five with an RBI double to right center, scoring Kivett
Bottom of the Fifth Inning
- Romero delivered again, this time a two-run single through the left side to take a 7-5 lead heading into the sixth
- James Madison has taken three-straight conference series for the first time since recording three sweeps against Elon, UNCW, and College of Charleston from April 17- May 2, 2021
- List's 12 home runs in 2025 are the most by a Duke in a single season since Hannah Shifflett had 18 in 2023. Her three RBI put her at a team-leading 31 on the year, which surpassed her 2024 total
- Coach LaPorte (249-117), is one win away from 250 in her career at the helm in Harrisonburg (2018- pres.)
- Romero caught her 12th runner stealing in the fifth inning, giving her sole possession of first in the category in the Sun Belt. She also reached 15 total in her career, tying her with Megan Shinaberry for 10th all-time in program history
- Gleason extended her on-base streak to four games, as she needs just two more hits to encapsulate 100 in her career between her time at South Carolina and with James Madison
- JMU is 12-1 when it scores more than six runs in a game this season
- The Dukes scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, marking the 15th inning during the 2025 campaign they have scored four-plus runs
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: List, Payton (9-6)
L: BrookLynn White (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Paris Ferguson 1
HR: Hannah Christian 1 ; Ryanna Valdivia 1
RBI: Hannah Christian 2 ; Paris Ferguson 1 ; Ryanna Valdivia 2
SH: Maddie Weeks 2 ; Nealy McManus 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hannah Christian 1 ; Faith Kivett 1 ; Carrie Green 1 ; Ryanna Valdivia 1 ; Shelby Allen 1
CS: Paris Ferguson 1
Batting:
HR: List, Payton 1
RBI: List, Payton 3 ; Campbell, Abbie 1 ; Romero, Lily 3
Base Running:
RUNS: List, Payton 1 ; Legzdin, Cali 1 ; Edwards, Madison 2 ; Wall, Raegan 1 ; Campbell, Abbie 1 ; Romero, Lily 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
dp/p
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
UTL
/ SoftballRHP/UTL
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
OF
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