Dukes Take Road Sweep at Winthrop, 1-0 and 6-1

Tuesday, March 10

Rock Hill, SC

4 p.m.

James Madison University

11-6

Winthrop

11-12

James Madison

Winthrop

3/10/2015 9:00:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ROCK HILL, S.C. – James Madison opened up its week-long road trip with a pair of victories, downing Winthrop 1-0 and 6-1 to sweep the doubleheader on Tuesday at Terry Field.

The Dukes improved to 12-6 while the Eagles dropped to 11-13 on the season. The wins were the first true road victories for JMU in 2015.

Three starters hit at least .500 in the two wins, including junior pitcher/first baseman Jailyn Ford, who went 3-for-4 (.750) with a home run, three RBIs, two runs and two walks. Junior catcher Erica Field hit 4-for-8 (.500) with two runs and two doubles, as she moved into third place all-time in JMU history with 39 career doubles.

Madison heads to Orlando, Florida for a five-pack of games this weekend at the UCF Spring Fling Tournament. The Dukes will take on UIC and Fairfield on Friday, Monmouth and Butler on Saturday and 20th-ranked UCF on Sunday.

Game One: JMU 1, Winthrop 0
Freshman pitcher Megan Good tossed a three-hit shutout to lead James Madison to a gritty 1-0 victory over Winthrop in game one of the doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon.

Good improved to 6-0 in the circle this season after walking one batter and striking out eight WU players. Taking the loss for the Eagles was Sutton Watson (3-4), who allowed one run, seven hits and four walks in her complete game.

Junior catcher Erica Field went 3-for-4 and scored the game's lone run in the top of the first inning. With runners on first and second with two outs, sophomore center fielder Taylor Newton laced a single through the left side and Field came around to score to put the Dukes up 1-0.

Winthrop appeared to have tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when K.J. Uyeno hit a double down the left field line, driving in Shayna Covington from first, but it was called a ground-rule double, forcing Covington back to third. On the ensuing at-bat, junior left fielder Hannah Hayes made a great run-saving catch to keep the Dukes ahead.

Good sat down Winthrop in order over the final two innings to give JMU the game-one victory.

Game Two: JMU 6, Winthrop 1
Junior pitcher Jailyn Ford pitched five innings of relief and produced three hits from the plate to guide James Madison to a 6-1 win over Winthrop in game two of the doubleheader Tuesday evening.

Ford came in to throwx the final five innings, not allowing a single hit and walking just one batter with five strikeouts to improve to 4-4 this season. She also excelled from the plate, where she hit 3-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs.

Also producing a multi-hit game was freshman first baseman Megan Good, who went 3-for-4, scoring one run. Sophomore center fielder Taylor Newton also went yard, hitting a home run with two RBIs.

The Eagles, who managed just two hits in the entire game, saw Sara Allen (6-4) take the loss after allowing four runs and six hits in three innings.

After JMU took a 1-0 lead on a RBI single by freshman second baseman Morgan Tolle in the second inning, the Dukes tacked on three more in the third to seize control of the game. With two runners in scoring position, Ford hit a sacrifice fly to right to make it 2-0, and on the ensuing at-bat, Newton belted her second home run of the year, a two-run shot, down the left field line to give the Dukes a 4-0 advantage.

Winthrop threatened in the bottom half of the third, scoring a run on a fielder's choice, but Ford came in relief and got out of a bases-loaded jam to preserved a 4-1 lead.

The Dukes added insurance in the seventh, when Ford hit a two-run home run over the center field wall to complete the game's scoring.