Softball Socks Five Homers in Doubleheader Sweep of Towson

Saturday, April 5

Harrisonburg, Va.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

26-11, 5-2

Towson

17-13, 0-1

Towson

James Madison

Softball Socks Five Homers in Doubleheader Sweep of Towson

4/5/2014 11:04:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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HARRISONBURG, Va., April 5, 2014 – James Madison softball smacked five home runs and junior pitcher Heather Kiefer (Potomac Falls, Va./Potomac Falls) twirled 10 1/3 innings of shutout ball to lead JMU to a doubleheader sweep of Towson at Veterans Memorial Park, Saturday. JMU won game one 11-0 in five innings before taking the nightcap 9-0 in six innings.

The Dukes have won four straight and move into sole possession of first place in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 27-11 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the league. Towson dropped its third straight to fall to 17-14 and 0-2 in the CAA.

Kiefer earned wins in both games to run her record to 13-5 on the season. She combined to hold the Tigers to four hits in 10 1/3 scoreless innings. The right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out two. In game two, she earned her third shutout of the season, holding to Towson to two hits in six innings of work.

Ambar Hickman took the loss for Towson to fall to 6-5. She allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings of work. The righty struck out one and walked two. Megan Chocallo ceded six runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

Offensively, the Dukes were paced in game two by multiple hits games from sophomore designated player Jailyn Ford (Hot Springs, Va./Bath County) and sophomore catcher Erica Field (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) as well as freshman center fielder Niki Prince (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge). Field and Ford both homered in the contest as Ford went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a homer, two RBIs and a run while Field was 2-for-4 with a double, a homer, two RBIs and two runs. Prince went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and three runs batted in.

Towson's hits came from the top-two batters in the its lineup as centerfielder Olivia Yarbrough had a hit in three at-bats while shortstop Hailey Balk finished 1-for-2 with a single. Yarbrough led off the game with a single. Kiefer then retired the next 17 batters she faced before Balk ended the stretch with an infield single in the top of the sixth.

The Dukes opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as sophomore Hannah Hayes (LaCrosse, Va./Kenston Forest), Field and Ford hit three consecutive doubles off Hickman for a pair of runs.

The lead climbed to 3-0 on a RBI double by Prince in the fourth inning. A home run by Ford to lead off the top of the fifth pushed the advantage to 4-0 before Prince tacked on two more RBIs with a single to left field.

For Ford it was her team-leading sixth homer for the season and the 21st of her career, moving her into sole possession of fourth on the school's all-time list.

The Dukes put the game away with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Field started the scoring with her second home run of the season before freshman pinch hitter Sara Wright (Pulaski, Va./Pulaski County) smacked her first career home run to close out the contest.