Harrisonburg, Va. – Madi Brown homered to lead off the top of the seventh to snap a 1-1 tie, but James Madison rallied for two runs in its half of the frame to hand the College of Charleston a 3-2 defeat in the rubber game of a Colonial Athletic Association series on Sunday.
Brown hit her first round tripper of the season and second of her career to give the Cougars (20-14, 3-3 CAA) their second lead of the day, but the 11th-ranked Dukes (30-5, 4-2) loaded the bases with one out, and Kierstin Roadcap drove in the winning runs with a base hit to left.
The rally made a hard-luck loser of Izzy Berouty (3-4), who allowed only four hits and one run entering the bottom of the seventh. Odicci Alexander started the rally with a double to lead off the inning followed by a hit by pitch and a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt that set the stage for Roadcap's single.
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead against JMU All-America pitcher Megan Good in the fourth. Katie Padilla singled with two outs and scored when left fielder Cambry Arnold committed an error on a double by Brown. Berouty induced double play grounders in the third and fourth to avoid potential jams, but the Dukes tied it in the fifth on a solo homer by Niki Prince.
Good (21-1) picked up her second win of the series despite being reached for seven hits. She walked one and struck out five. Taylor DuPree joined Brown with two hits for CofC while Alexander had a pair of hits for the Dukes.
The Cougars return home next weekend against UNCW and will celebrate Alumni Weekend and the 25th anniversary of the softball program during the series against the Seahawks. All softball alumni are invited to join in the celebration but are asked to RSVP in advance. For more information or to RSVP, write to schumanta@cofc.edu or call 843-953-2632.