James Madison plated five runs in the fifth inning to overcome an early deficit and pick up a 12-7 Sun Belt Conference softball victory over visiting Georgia Southern on Friday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Va.
The Dukes improve to 18-7 overall and 3-1 in the Sun Belt with the win, while Georgia Southern falls to 11-15 overall and 1-3 in the Sun Belt. The two teams will resume their three-game Sun Belt series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest from Harrisonburg.
The Eagles took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning as senior Janai Conklin hit her second home run of the season, a three-run shot, for the early 3-0 advantage.
The Dukes answered with two runs in the bottom of the first, then took the lead with the five-run second inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs. Hallie Hall hit a three-run home run off of Georgia Southern starter Bailey Holland (3-9), then Hannah Shifflett hit a solo shot off of Eagle reliever Alana Barnard.
Georgia Southern got a pair of runs back in the top of the third as Courtney Ball hit a solo home run to lead off the inning, then Faith Barth scored on an error to make the score 7-5. It was the first game this season in which the Eagles have hit multiple home runs.
The Dukes then added four runs in the bottom of the fourth, extended its lead to 11-7. The Eagles got a pair of runs in the top of the fifth off the bat of Sam Vinson, but JMU capped the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the fifth.
Holland took the loss for the Eagles in the circle, giving up five hits and six runs in 1 1/3 innings of work, walking one and striking out one. Kylah Berry (6-0) earned the win in relief for the Dukes, giving up three unearned runs in five innings of work, walking three and striking out three.
