JMU Wins 13th Straight in 10-6 Decision Over BYU

Saturday, March 5

Tucson, Ariz.

3 p.m. ET

James Madison University

15-1

BYU

12-8

James Madison

BYU

3/5/2016 5:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

TUSCON, Ariz. – No.10 James Madison earned its 13th straight win in a 10-6 decision over Brigham Young on the second day of the University of Arizona Wildcat Invitational Saturday afternoon. The Dukes advanced to 15-1 on the season, while the Cougars fell to 12-8..

JMU tallied a total of six extra-base hits, two doubles and four home runs. Junior infielder Niki Prince led JMU with one double and two home runs, racking up 3 RBIs on the day. Sophomore infielder Morgan Tolle also recorded three hits, including a double and a home run.

Sophomore Megan Good (9-1) earned the win in 6.1 innings of work, giving up eight hits and six runs while striking out seven.

Senior catcher Erica Field put the Dukes on the board in the first inning, stealing home in double-steal situation.

After a two-run inning for BYU in the first, junior outfielder Taylor Newton and Prince hit back-to-back home runs, putting JMU up, 3-2, and giving the Dukes a lead they would not relinquish.

Moran added another run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to center field, plating Prince. In the sixth, Field picked up her first RBI of the day with a groundout to second, scoring junior designated hitter Tahli Moore. Tolle closed the inning with a two-run homer to put the Dukes up 7-2.

BYU hit a two-run homer in the sixth, closing the gap to 7-4, before Prince launched her second dinger of the day in the top of the seventh and Field tallied another RBI single to left field for a 10-4 advantage heading into the final half inning.

Ford entered the circle for the Dukes for the final two outs of the seventh. After BYU scored two runs, she closed the door on the Cougars with a groundout and strikeout to end the game.

QUOTING HEAD COACH MICKEY DEAN
"Our hitters were extremely disciplined today and we were hitting our pitches. BYU is a very good hitting team, but when our pitchers got ahead we were able to handle them. With good offensive teams like BYU, when our pitchers get behind, their hitters take advantage. I was proud of our toughness today against a good team."

LEAD-OFF POWER
The Dukes had the lead-off batter get on base in all seven innings, with Field starting the trend with a walk in the first at-bat of the day. Newton launched a solo home run in the second, Tolle singled through the right side in the third and Prince doubled down the left field line in the fourth. In the fifth, Tolle doubled to right-center, followed by a single though the left side from Moore in the sixth. Ford rounded out the streak with single though the left side in the seventh.

CAREER CHARTS
With her solo home run against the Cougars, Newton claimed sole possession of fifth place on the all-time career home-run charts with 21.

TWEET OF THE DAY

See ya later x2! ???? https://t.co/IFwbNX1hrF
— JMUSports (@JMUSports) March 5, 2016

LAST TIME IT HAPPENED
The last time James Madison hit four home runs in a single game was in a 9-0 win over Elon on Apr. 25, 2015.

UP NEXT
The Dukes return to action on the third and final day of the Wildcat Invitational on Sunday, March 6. JMU faces UTEP at 1 p.m. ET, followed by a match-up against host No.15 Arizona at 3 p.m. ET.