HARRISONBURG, VA -- The James Madison University softball team swept a doubleheader from the University of Delaware, 7-3 and 2-1, Saturday afternoon at the JMU Softball Complex.

The Blue Hens managed just six hits on the day as Delaware fell to 30-19 overall and 7-9 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Dukes improved to 22-26 overall and 7-10 in the conference. Despite losing twice the Blue Hens maintained possession of fourth place in the league standings, as Delaware holds a half-game lead over James Madison and Towson with with four conference games to play.

The Dukes jumped on top in the opener by scoring two runs in the bottom off the first inning off Blue Hen pitcher Carolynn Sloat. Kaitlyn Wernsing led off the frame with a single, and after she moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jenn Chavez, she scored on a double by Katie George. One out later Julia Dominguez doubled home George to give James Madison an early two-run lead.

The Dukes added a run in the second on consecutive two-out doubles by Sally Smith and Wernsing, and tacked on a pair of runs in the third to take a 5-0 lead. With one out Megan Smith doubled and Dominguez followed with a two-run homer to center, her 10th round-tripper of the season.

Delaware answered in the top of the fifth when Michelle Plant led off with a walk, Jessica Kozlowski singled to center, and Marianne Marinella (above) drilled a three-run homer to leftcenter for her first home run of the season.

However George answered with a homer in the bottom of the inning to put the Dukes up 6-3, and James Madison added a run in the sixth to conclude the scoring. Andrea Long led off the frame with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Krista Landing, advanced to third on a groundout by Sally Smith, and scored on a single by Wernsing.

Jenny Clohan improved to 9-9 for the Dukes after allowing three runs on four hits and striking out two, while Sloat dropped to 17-13 as she gave up seven earned runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts. Kozlowski went 2 for 3 for the Blue Hens, while Marinella and Barbara Traynor added a hit apiece. Allison Borchers went 0 for 3 and had her school-record 15-game hitting streak snapped.

James Madison again took the early lead in the nightcap by scoring two runs in the bottom of the second off Delaware pitcher Lindsay Jones. Dominguez led off the inning by singling up the middle, and two outs later she moved to second on a single by Kelly Ann Berkemeier. Amber Kirk then singled home both runners to give the Dukes a 2-0 advantage.

The Blue Hens got a run back in the third as with one out Kate Termini singled, Katie DeSalvo singled, and Borchers reached on an error to load the bases. Termini then scored on a wild pitch to put Delaware on the board, and the bases were again loaded when Katie Lee reached on a walk. However Dukes starter Meredith Felts got Kim Ovittore to line out to second and Traynor to bounce into a fielder’s choice as James Madison held on to the lead.

Felts and reliever Renee Bounds then combined to allow just two walks in the final four innings for the Dukes. Felts gave up two hits and one unearned run in five innings of work to improve to 10-9 on the year, while Bounds allowed one walk and struck out three in two hitless innings of work to earn her first save of the season. Jones fell to 12-6 after allowing two earned runs on eight hits while striking out six for the Blue Hens.

The teams conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a single game at the JMU Softball Complex beginning at 12 noon.

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