JMU Announces Free Admission to All Home Regular Season Baseball Games

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison announced on Thursday that admission to all home regular season baseball games at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park will be free for the 2017 season.

"We have seen the impact of free admission at Veterans Memorial Park for our regular season home softball games and will be using the same approach to grow the fan base for the baseball program," Assistant A. D. for Ticketing & Customer Relations Michael Carpenter said. "We look forward to hosting more area teams and groups at the park this season."

With the move to free admission, JMU will further gain the ability to engage the community and provide access to watch collegiate baseball. In addition to local Dukes fans, this allows JMU to host area youth teams, school groups, prep and high school teams, non-profit organizations and many others at VMP free of charge. In addition to drawing a larger fan base, this change will increase exposure for the university and improve recruiting opportunities for the JMU baseball program.

The Dukes will host 30 home games this season, starting with a Feb. 28 matchup with in-state rival Richmond at 3 p.m. Exciting regional home matchups include VMI (March 28), George Mason (April 5), Liberty (April 11) and Maryland (April 25). JMU also hosts Delaware (March 24-26), College of Charleston (April 7-9), Towson (May 5-7) and Hofstra (May 12-14) for Colonial Athletic Association series. The full 2017 schedule can be found here.

In 2016, his first season at the helm of JMU, Head Coach Marlin Ikenberry led the Dukes to a 24-31 record, a six-win improvement over the previous season. After being picked to finish seventh, JMU went 13-11 in CAA play to finish fourth in the conference and won its first CAA Tournament game since 2013. JMU opens up the 2017 season with a weekend tournament in Conway, S.C. from Feb. 17-19 that includes a date with reigning national champion Coastal Carolina on Feb. 19 at 1 p.m.

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