Kirsten Fleet Blanks Texas State, Dukes Move On To SBC Semifinals

Thursday, May 8

Troy, Ala.

5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

27-25

Texas State

34-19

James Madison

Texas State

Kirsten Fleet Blanks Texas State, Dukes Move On To SBC Semifinals

5/8/2025 9:10:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

TROY, Ala. - Kirsten Fleet tossed a three-hit shutout and the James Madison softball defense prevailed as it downed top-seeded Texas State, 2-0, in the SBC Championship Quarterfinal on Thursday evening at the Troy Softball Complex.

JMU (27-25) caught fire early as it earned its first run of the game within the first four batters, as Cali Legzdin punched a ball through the right side to score the runner from first and lead 1-0.

Fleet allowed just five baserunners through her third shutout of the season, as Texas State (34-19) mustered up just three singles and two walks off the sophomore pitcher while she struck out five Bobcats to earn her 12th win in the circle.

Payton List took Madison Azua deep over the center field fence in the third inning to grab a much-needed insurance run for Fleet, her 14th of the season.

Kylee Gleason and Legzdin notched multi-hit games with two hits apiece, the 16th and 14th performances of that nature during the 2025 campaign.

Raegan Wall and Reed Butler were responsible for the other two JMU hits, as Butler's double was her 10th of the season, tying her with Legzdin for the team lead.

Sydney Harvey paced the Bobcats with two out of the three hits in the leadoff spot.

Azua lasted just two innings in her eighth loss of the season, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out one JMU batter. Emma Strood kept the Dukes off the board any further, going the final five innings, and limiting the JMU offense to just three hits.

How It Happened

First Inning

Cali Legzdin singled through the right side with runners on the corners to bring in the Dukes' first run to lead 1-0

Third Inning

List sent her 14th home run of the season over the center field fence to extend the lead to 2-0

Game Notes

James Madison becomes the first team to eliminate the top-seeded team in the quarterfinals or earlier in Sun Belt Conference history.
It is also the first time JMU has reached the semifinals of the conference tournament as members of the Sun Belt
Legzdin earned sole possession of third place on the single-season stolen base list with her 24th swipe of the season
With her 14th home run in the third inning of Thursday's contest, List sits tied for the 10th most homers in a single-season in program history. Odicci Alexander (2019), Kate Gordon (2018) and Sara Jubas (2019) also put together 14 long balls in a season
The redshirt sophomore also needs just five hits to reach 100 in her career, sitting at 95 after Thursday

Up Next
James Madison will play the winner of Georgia Southern versus ULM in the semifinals on Friday, May 9, on ESPN+.