James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Sunday, March 18
Harrisonburg, Va.
12:30 P.M.
James Madison University
19-7
2
vs
4
East Carolina
13-16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
East Carolina
3
0
0
0
1
0
0
4
4
1
James Madison
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
8
2
Dukes Drop 4-2 Decision to ECU
3/18/2018 5:02:00 PM | Softball
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The James Madison softball team tallied eight hits but stranded 15 runners, dropping a 4-2 decision to ECU to close out the JMU Invitational on Sunday afternoon.
The Dukes fell to 19-7, while the Pirates have won four straight, pushing their overall record to 13-16.
Sophomore Kate Gordon led the Dukes at the plate going 2-for-3 tallying two doubles and walked once. She has recorded a hit in the last eight games and multiple hits in the last three.
The Pirates struck early with a three run home run over the left center wall, but the Dukes responded quickly as Gordon doubled to left center to advance Odicci Alexander to third after she reached on a hit by pitch. Sophomore Natalie Cutright singled to the pitcher to send Alexander home to score the first JMU run of the day.
ECU capitalized on two JMU errors in the top of the fifth to plate the final Pirate run. Sophomore Kierstin Roadcap singled up the middle in the bottom of the frame to send Gordon home who led off with her second double of the day.
Both teams exhausted the bull pen as JMU used three pitchers in the loss and ECU used four in the win. Senior Jessica McCabe was credited with the loss after giving up the 3 RBI home run in the first. Alexander and Payton Buresch each pitched three complete innings, together striking out a total of six batters, only walking two.
QUOTING COACH LAPORTE
"We've got to do a better job advancing our base runners home, we can't leave that many stranded and expect to walk away with the win. We also made a few mistakes in the field that hurt us; we just didn't make smart decisions today. The girls have a lot to learn from in these past two games and I hope we come back stronger on Wednesday when we have our first mid-week games before heading into conference play."
UP NEXT
The Dukes head south to face in-state rival, Virginia Tech on Wednesday. First pitch in the doubleheader is set for 5 p.m.
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The Dukes fell to 19-7, while the Pirates have won four straight, pushing their overall record to 13-16.
Sophomore Kate Gordon led the Dukes at the plate going 2-for-3 tallying two doubles and walked once. She has recorded a hit in the last eight games and multiple hits in the last three.
The Pirates struck early with a three run home run over the left center wall, but the Dukes responded quickly as Gordon doubled to left center to advance Odicci Alexander to third after she reached on a hit by pitch. Sophomore Natalie Cutright singled to the pitcher to send Alexander home to score the first JMU run of the day.
ECU capitalized on two JMU errors in the top of the fifth to plate the final Pirate run. Sophomore Kierstin Roadcap singled up the middle in the bottom of the frame to send Gordon home who led off with her second double of the day.
Both teams exhausted the bull pen as JMU used three pitchers in the loss and ECU used four in the win. Senior Jessica McCabe was credited with the loss after giving up the 3 RBI home run in the first. Alexander and Payton Buresch each pitched three complete innings, together striking out a total of six batters, only walking two.
QUOTING COACH LAPORTE
"We've got to do a better job advancing our base runners home, we can't leave that many stranded and expect to walk away with the win. We also made a few mistakes in the field that hurt us; we just didn't make smart decisions today. The girls have a lot to learn from in these past two games and I hope we come back stronger on Wednesday when we have our first mid-week games before heading into conference play."
UP NEXT
The Dukes head south to face in-state rival, Virginia Tech on Wednesday. First pitch in the doubleheader is set for 5 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: SANFORD, Whitney (5-7)
L: McCabe, Jessica (0-1)
Batting:
HR: MYCEK, Alex 1
RBI: MYCEK, Alex 3
SH: KING, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: INAE, Ashleigh 1 ; MCCLELLAN, Tate 1 ; MYCEK, Alex 1 ; NARRON, Olivia 1
SB: INAE, Ashleigh 1
Batting:
2B: Gordon, Kate 2
RBI: Cutright, Natalie 1 ; Roadcap, Kierstin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alexander, Odicci 1 ; Gordon, Kate 1
SB: Naujokas, Madison 2
HBP: Alexander, Odicci 1 ; File, Hannah 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
P/INF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballUTL
/ SoftballUTL
/ Softball
P/INF
/ Softball
INF/C
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