HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison softball came out victorious in a pair of games against Towson Saturday, beating the Tigers 14-5 in game one and 17-8 in game two at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Dukes improved to 11-13 on the season and 2-0 in conference play while the Tigers fell to 9-15 (0-2 CAA).
JMU batters tallied 24 hits and eight home runs across the two games.
GAME 1: JMU 14, Towson 5
Towson tallied a run in both the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead over JMU. The Dukes answered in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from
Hannah Shifflett to bring in
Morgan Mesaros and
Lauren Bernett to tie the game.
The Tigers took a 5-2 lead in the top of the third, but a three-run homer from
Jasmine Hall brought the game back to a draw.
A dominant fourth inning from the Dukes put them back on top.
Emily Phillips, J. Hall and Bernett all notched home runs in the bottom of the fourth while
Hallie Hall hit an RBI double to put the Dukes up 11-5.
In the following inning,
Kayla Boseman hit a three-run goner to end the game and tally her sixth home run of the season.
Alissa Humphrey pitched all five innings for JMU as she struck out four batters.
GAME 2: JMU 17, Towson 8
Towson started off the game with an RBI single, but JMU was able to tally a whopping eight runs in the bottom of the first to take a dominant lead.
Phillips started off the explosive inning with a three-run single before making it home on a throwing error by the Tigers. Shifflett then knocked in three batters with a single to right center prior to finding her way home on a fielding error in the Dukes' next at bat.
JMU continued their scoring streak with two more runs in the bottom of the third as
Hannah Hennessy scored on a throwing error and H. Hall singled to left field to bring home
Abbie Campbell.
In the fourth inning, Towson was able to put three more runs on the board, but Hennessy answered in the bottom of the inning with a homer to put the Dukes up 12-5.
The Tigers put up their final three runs in the top of the fifth, but H. Hall hit one out of the park up bottom of the inning to keep the Dukes' distance and make it 13-8.
In the bottom of the sixth, Shifflett added to the tally with an RBI single up the middle while H. Hall sealed the deal with her second home run of the game to bring in both Shifflett and Campbell and end the game.
The Dukes saw two pitchers take the circle, with Humphrey and
Alexis Bermudez striking out seven batters total.
UP NEXT
JMU will host Towson for the final game of the series Sunday, Mar. 27 at 1 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park. The game will be streamed on Fl