Hoos Take 12-3 Run-Rule Victory At JMU

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Hoos put up five runs in the first inning and never looked back as Virginia (22-10) picked up the 12-3 run-rule victory at JMU (18-13) on Wednesday (March 27) night in six innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia opened the scoring in the first. Macee Eaton came to the plate with two on and drove a single through the right side to bring Jade Hylton home and leave runners at the corners. Virginia would walk the bases loaded and with two outs on the board, Kelsey Hackett delivered a bases-clearing double to center. Lauren VanAssche brought Hackett home with a single through the left side and Virginia led 5-0 after the top of the first.

JMU answered in the home half of the first, getting a run home on an infield single to third from KK Mathis with two in scoring position.

An error in the second extended the inning and brought Shelby Barbee to the plate. The junior third baseman made the most of it with a three-run shot to left to take the Virginia lead out to 8-1.

Virginia made it 9-1 in the third with an RBI groundout to third from Bella Cabral that scored Reece Holbrook. Holbrook singled and then stole second and third before the Cabral groundout.

JMU added a second run in the fifth inning as a bloop single to center from KK Mathis scored Reed Butler from second. Butler reached on a flare single to right and took second on a passed ball to get into scoring position for the Mathis hit. Another flare to right that dropped in no man’s land and kicked at a 90 degree angle to the wall down the right field line allowed a second run to come home as the Dukes cut the lead to 9-3.

Virginia got a run back in the sixth as a wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed Macee Eaton to score and leave two in scoring position. Following a force out at the plate that kept the bases loaded, Reece Holbrook drew a walk to bring the second run of the inning home. Another wild pitch allowed a third run to score as te Hoos moved out in front 12-3.

Courtney Layne (2-1) picked up the win as she allowed two runs on four hits with two walks with four strikeouts in 4.0 innings of relief work.

Kristen Fleet (4-2) suffered the loss as she allowed eight runs – five of them earned – on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work.

NOTES ON THE GAME

• Virginia has now won three straight against JMU and leads the all-time series 27-25.
• The 12 runs scored by the Cavaliers is a season high.
• Shelby Barbee’s home run in the second inning was her second home run of the season.
• Hackett’s three RBI performance was a career high for the sophomore outfielder.
• The three-RBI performance from Shelby Barbee matched her career high set against Virginia Tech (4/6/23).
• Mikayla Houge worked 2.0 innings and allowed one run in the start, her second start of the season.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“We came out and threw the first punch again and I like that when you’re the visitor and you can put up runs like that and set the tone. I also liked that we put up runs back-to-back-to-back in three straight innings. We kept challenging our offense to string together the quality at bats and we did that well. It was good for Mikayla Houge and Courtney Layne to get out there and tag team this in the circle. Overall, I thought it was a great job by the team. We have the second half of the week to go against a tough Villanova team this weekend, but the team is having fun together and we’re gelling. We’re going to keep at it and get after it this weekend.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia continues to play on the road this weekend with a pair of games at Villanova. Game one is set for 4:30 p.m. on Friday (March 29) and game two is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday (March 30).