No. 20 JMU Takes Pair from Cavaliers

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Virginia softball (17-30) dropped a pair of games at No. 20 James Madison (38-7) on Tuesday (April 23) at Veterans Memorial Park. The Dukes earned a 14-3 victory in five innings in game one before claiming a 3-1 pitchers’ duel in the nightcap.
 
Senior Lacy Smith (Lancaster, Pa.) broke the Virginia single-season home run record with her 14th blast of the season. The record-breaking shot came in the top of the third inning of game one. The record was previously held by Kristen Dennis, who hit 13 homers in 2002.
 
GAME 1: No. 20 JMU 14, Virginia 3 (5 Inn.)
A seven-run first inning sparked a 14-3 victory for JMU in the opening game of the doubleheader.
 
Allyson Frei (Branchville, N.J.) took the loss, allowing six runs, one earned. She did not allow a hit but was chased from the first inning after issuing five walks. Odicci Alexander (17-1) picked up the win, working four innings and surrendering the three Virginia runs.

KEY INNING
Four straight one-out walks plated the first run for JMU in the bottom of the first. An error and another walk pushed two more across before a single built the advantage to 5-0. A double made it 7-0, as JMU scored six unearned in the frame. The damage came on just two hits.
 
TOUCHING HOME
• Five walks and an error led to a seven-run first inning for JMU.
• Megan Good hit a solo home run and another pair of hits extended the Dukes’ lead to 9-0 in the second.
• Smith’s three-run shot in the third put Virginia on the board and cut the deficit to 9-3.
• Good tripled in the bottom of the third as part of a three-run frame for JMU.
• Kate Gordon lifted a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 14-3 JMU.
 
ON THE LINES
• Smith’s homer was her first since March 30 and broke Virginia’s 17-year-old single season record.
• Hayley Busby (Phoenix, Ariz.) went 1-for-3 in the game.
• Tori Gilbert (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Ashlee Davis (Gilbert, Ariz.) each recorded base hits for the Cavaliers.
 
GAME 2: No. 20 JMU 3, Virginia 1
A pitchers’ duel in game two was flipped with two swings of the bat as JMU used a pair of homers in the fifth inning to capture the nightcap, 3-1.
 
Freshman Aly Rayle (Herndon, Va.) went toe-to-toe with one of the best pitchers in the country in JMU’s Good. Rayle (6-12) scattered six hits and allowed three runs in her complete game. All three of the runs came on the back-to-back homers in the fifth, spoiling an otherwise stellar evening for the rookie.
 
Virginia loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Good (15-5) recorded her sixth strikeout of the game to end it.

KEY INNING
A two-out single from Kate Gordon in the bottom of the fifth sparked a three-run rally for the Dukes. Good lifted a two-run shot to center field to put JMU in front and Alexander followed suit with a solo shot to left, making it 3-1 Dukes.
 
TOUCHING HOME
• Busby tripled as her line drive deflected off the diving JMU right fielder and Smith plated her with a double down the right field line to give Virginia a 1-0 lead in the third.
• The home runs from Good and Alexander put JMU in front with a three-run fifth inning.
 
ON THE LINES
• Rayle threw her third complete game of the season, striking out five.
• Busby finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple.
• Gilbert added a multi-hit performance with a 2-for-3 game.

UP NEXT
Virginia heads to NC State over the weekend for its final ACC series of the season. The series is slated to begin on Friday, April 26 at 6 p.m.