JMU Forces Game 7

5/8/2015 2:15:00 PM

Tim McDonnell

#CAAChamps Central | Boxscore | Highlights

HARRISONBURG, Va. (May 8, 2015) – Sophomore Niki Prince and freshman Megan Good each hit solo home runs and top-seeded James Madison held on for a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Hofstra to force a deciding Game 7 in the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Softball Championship.

It’s the fifth time overall and the first instance since 2011 that the softball championship will be decided in Game 7 of the tournament.

The No. 17/18 Dukes, who search for the program’s second straight CAA title, avenged their loss against the Pride from yesterday that snapped a 36-game winning streak. JMU (47-7) and Hofstra (36-12-1) will play the critical seventh game in roughly 35 minutes. As always, fans can watch the contest for free online via CAA.tv and on the American Sports Network (ASN) at 5:00 p.m. this evening.

Prince finished with three hits and Good had two. JMU plated two runs in the first and two runs in the third. Ford improved to 16-4 on the season with the complete game effort, which included 12 strikeouts, three earned runs and three hits. She also walked five.

For the Pride, senior pitcher Morgan Lashley suffered her first loss since Opening Day. The righty, who had won 19 straight decisions, fell to 19-2 on the year. She lasted four batters and was tagged for two hits, both of which were JMU’s homers, and two runs.

Hofstra made things very interesting in the bottom of the sixth when sophomore Michaela Transue smacked a two-out, three run homer to make it 4-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Ford escaped a potential disaster by striking out stud Hofstra junior Caryn Bailey, who was walked three times and entered the game with four homers in two games at the tournament.

JMU has won two CAA softball titles in all while Hofstra has won 10. The Pride can capture three league trophies in the last four seasons with a victory. Madison has reached the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons and Pride has advanced each of the last three seasons, including last year as an at-large participant.

Interestingly, this is the fifth time in CAA softball championship tournament history that the final contest has come down to the deciding seventh game. Hofstra has been involved in all five of those occasions. In 2008, the Pride defeated Madison twice on the final day of the tournament in Hempstead to claim the trophy outright.

JMU jumped on Lashley out of the gates, forcing the righty out of the contest after facing just four batters. Prince smacked her third homer of the season with the second pitch of the contest, a blast to left-center. After a strikeout, Good came to the plate and also hit a solo shot to left-center on the second pitch.

Madison tacked on two more runs in the third against Pride senior hurler Taylor Pirone. Good came through with a one-out single, which turned into a run after Bailey misplayed the ball for an error, allowing pinch runner Mimi Morris to score from first. Ford then helped her own cause with a double down the left field line that scored Good for a 4-0 advantage.

Notes: Hofstra has advanced to the NCAA postseason tournament 15 times in program history, including 10 times as a member of the CAA. The conference softball tournament has gone to the deciding Game 7 four times in its history (2004, 2006, 2008 and most recently, 2011). Bailey leads the CAA with 16 homers this season and already set CAA Tournament records with home runs (4) and total bases (18).

Fans can watch the title game this evening at 5:00 p.m. via the American Sports Network (ASN). Visit the CAA Softball Championship Central page for television listings, live stats, boxscores, game recaps, video highlights and much more.

2015 CAA SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
(Veterans Memorial Park | Harrisonburg, Va.)

Wednesday, May 6
Game 1: #1 @JMU_Softball 3, #4 @Towson_SB 2
Game 2: #2 @HofstraSoftball 10, #3 @ElonUSoftball 0 (5)

Thursday, May 7
Game 3: #2 @HofstraSoftball 5, #1 @JMU_Softball 3
Game 4: #3 @ElonUSoftball 8, #4 @Towson_SB 6
Game 5: #1 @JMU_Softball 13, #3 @ElonUSoftball 2 (5)

Friday, May 8
Game 6: #1 @JMU_Softball 4, #2 @HofstraSoftball 3
Game 7: #1 @JMU_Softball vs. #2 @HofstraSoftball

Saturday, May 9
Rain Date if necessary