JMU Drops Doubleheader at Southern Miss

Sunday, March 15

Statesboro, Ga.

11 a.m.

James Madison University

14-12, 14-12

Georgia Southern

12-14, 1-2

James Madison

Georgia Southern

Dukes softball players lined up for anthem.

4/3/2026 11:05:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – James Madison dropped its series-closing doubleheader at Southern Miss, falling 5-4 in 11 innings and 5-0 on Friday at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.

The Golden Eagles (27-15, 8-4 Sun Belt) won the series after rallying from two down in seventh inning and later walking off game one in extras, while conceding just two hits to the Dukes (16-20, 4-8 Sun Belt) in game two.

Game one was the longest for JMU since May 18, 2019, when the Dukes went 12 innings at #15 Michigan during the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional.

JMU had four players record a pair of hits Friday, highlighted by an Emily LeGrand home run in game one. Payton List pitched a career-high 10.2 innings in game one with 144 total pitches while also recording two hits in the same outing.

Southern Miss' pitching held JMU off the scoreboard for the final 14 innings of the series, as Madilyn Graham pitched all 11 innings of game one, followed by Kayla Giardina's complete game in the nightcap. Madison Johnson recorded two hits in each game with a pair of RBI, while Hannah Christian had three hits and a team-high 3 RBI.

Game One: Southern Miss 5, JMU 4 (11 inn.)
JMU led by as many as three runs twice, but Southern Miss used a pair of runs with two outs in the seventh and later scored on a game-winning sacrifice fly in the 11th.

How It Happened:

JMU opened the game scoring three in the third inning. After an error scored the game's first run, JMU tacked on two more runs on a Kendra Lewis single to center.
USM scored in the bottom half, but JMU went up 4-1 in the fourth on a solo homer run by Emily LeGrand over the center field wall.
The Golden Eagles cut JMU's lead to 4-2 in the fifth and with two away in the seventh, Julia Glasgow singled to short, while Hannah Christian singled to first, sending the game to extras.
In the 11th, USM closed the game with a Nealy McManus sac fly to right, scoring Jadyn Rausch from third.

The game was the first to reach double-digit innings since May 21, 2021, when JMU beat Liberty, 4-3, in 10 innings at the 2021 NCAA Regional in Knoxville, Tenn.

Game Two: Southern Miss 5, JMU 0
Southern Miss recorded a three-run third inning and held a no-hitter into the fifth inning, limiting JMU to just two hits en route to its series-clinching win in game two of the doubleheader.

How it Happened:

Southern Miss scored three in the bottom of the third, crossing home on a double steal, an infield single and a sacrifice fly.
The hosts upped the lead to 4-0 in the fourth on a groundout.
JMU was held hitless until the fifth when Kylee Gleason and Madison Edwards had back-to-back singles following an Emily LeGrand walk to load the bases. USM got out of the jam with an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom half, the lead grew to 5-0 on an RBI single from Madison Johnson, closing the scoring.

Up Next:
JMU returns home to Veterans Memorial for a three-game Sun Belt series against Louisiana from April 10-12. All three games will stream live on ESPN+.