Fleet Throws Complete Game As Dukes Rally to Down Georgia Southern

Thursday, May 1

Harrisonburg, Va.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

24-24, 10-12

Georgia Southern

28-23, 12-10

Georgia Southern

James Madison

Fleet Throws Complete Game As Dukes Rally to Down Georgia Southern

5/1/2025 7:13:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, James Madison softball used a four-run frame to earn a come-from-behind 4-2 victory against Georgia Southern in the first of a three-game Sun Belt Conference set at Veterans Memorial Park on Thursday afternoon.

Georgia Southern (28-23, 12-10 SBC) held JMU (24-24, 10-12 SBC) in check for the first five innings, as a first-inning solo home run from Faith Barth was the difference and all Alana Barnard needed until the Dukes got to her in the sixth.

After a leadoff walk to Payton List and a Kylee Gleason double with nobody out in the sixth,
Reed Butler delivered the go-ahead hit, a first-pitch two-run double to left field that put James Madison in the lead for good.

Cali Legzdin and Jasmine Hall each turned in multi-hit efforts, as Legzdin notched her 10th double of the year, driving in the Dukes' third run. She later came around to score on a head-first dive on the Madison Edwards' RBI groundout to cap off the inning.

List was responsible for the seventh James Madison hit, extending her hitting streak to four games.

Kirsten Fleet threw her sixth complete game of the season, as she allowed two runs on seven hits with zero walks and six strikeouts to earn her team-best 11th win in the circle.

Barnard, who coming in led the SBC in ERA, took her third loss of the year as she went five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out one. Before the leadoff walk to List in the sixth, Barnard was cruising through the lineup as she allowed just four singles through the first five innings of play.

Gracie Bellard came on as a pinch-hitter for the Eagles as they had two runners on with two out in the seventh, and she doubled to right field to bring Georgia Southern to within two.

With the tying run at the plate, Fleet struck out pinch-hitter Braelyn Queen to finish the victory.

Barth and Payton Cushman each earned multi-hit games, as Cushman's three-hit performance matched her career high.

How It Happened

First Inning

Barth sent a ball over the center field fence for the first run of the game for Georgia Southern

Sixth Inning

With two runners on and nobody out, Butler doubled to left field to score two and give the Dukes their first lead of the day, 2-1
Legzdin doubled to right center to score Butler from second to extend the lead to 3-1
Edwards grounded to third base to score Legzdin to cap off the four-run inning, 4-1

Seventh Inning

Bellard doubled to left field with two out to score the runner from first and cut the lead to 4-2

Game Notes

James Madison improved to 5-3 all-time against Georgia Southern and 4-3 as members of the Sun Belt Conference
Fleet's third strikeout of the game came in the second inning and marked the 150th of her collegiate career
Barth's home run in the first was only the third long ball of conference play for Georgia Southern and 12th of the season
With her two-hit day on Thursday; Jasmine Hall moved into 18th all-time in program history, passing Shannon Moxey (2007-10) with 156 hits in her career
It was the seventh multi-hit contest for Hall of the 2025 season
Thursday's game was just the third time that the Dukes have come back to win a game they were trailing after five innings. They were in 2-19 in those contests coming into the game in 2025
Butler's two-RBI afternoon was her eighth game of two-plus runs driven in this season
List needs 10 more hits to eclipse 100 in her career and become the fifth active Duke to do so
Fleet's 11 wins in 2025 is a single-season best and puts her at 20 career wins through her first two seasons in Harrisonburg
Sitting at 41 hits, Legzdin is the first freshman since Bella Henzler to earn 40-plus hits in their freshman season as a Duke. Henzler had 42 hits during her 2023 freshman campaign