Dukes Split First Day of St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational

Friday, February 15

Clearwater, Fla.

12:30 PM

James Madison University

0-1

Cal

4-3

California

James Madison

Dukes Split First Day of St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational

2/15/2019 10:51:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

CLEARWATER, Fla. - No. 23/25 James Madison softball began its 2019 campaign splitting two games to go 1-1 on Friday in the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational. The Dukes fell to Cal, 7-2, but bounced back with an impressive 9-1 victory in six innings over No. 19/22 Oregon.

GAME 1 vs. Cal
Cal took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but the Dukes answered right back as freshman Lexi Lomax singled to left, sending sophomore Hannah File home to even the game at 1-1.

Fielding errors led Cal to score six runs in the third inning. Junior Kierstin Roadcap singled through the left side, bringing junior Kate Gordon home to make the score 7-2. Sophomore Payton Buresch was credited with the loss after giving up three hits and one earned run in two innings.

Lomax singled in her first collegiate at bat while grabbing an RBI
Junior Odicci Alexander pitched five innings and gave up three hits.
Alexander, File and junior Madison Naujokas all drew walks in the game.

GAME 2 vs. Oregon
In her first appearance in the circle since 2017, redshirt senior Megan Good picked up her first win of the season after tallying eight strikeouts in six complete innings. With the victory, Good tallied the 100th win of her career.

Led by Arnold and Alexander who reached home plate two times apiece, JMU scored four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.

JMU combined for 12 hits in the game while Oregon was held to only four.
Five Dukes hit doubles in the win: Alexander, Good, Roadcap, File and Natalie Cutright.
Roadcap led the Dukes going 2-for-4 and racking up three RBIs.

QUOTING COACH LAPORTE
"I was really proud of the way our girls bounced back tonight. We started the day out of rhythm against Cal, but didn't let that affect us in game two. It was great having Megan back in the circle and our players had really strong bats to get us a big win against a strong Oregon team."

UP NEXT
The Dukes are back for two games tomorrow afternoon, as they face FAU at 1 p.m. and No. 6 Tennessee at 4 p.m. The game against Tennessee will be available to watch on ESPN3.