Bats go quiet as Dukes drop two
JMU only able to score one run in two games
By James Irwin, senior writer
Posted on April 3, 2006

It’s tough to win games when you don’t score runs, something the JMU softball team is finding out the hard way.

UNC-Wilmington right-handers Jennifer Bosley and Jess Luckett combined to allow one run over 14 innings and the Seahawks extended JMU’s losing streak to a season-high five games Saturday by taking a doubleheader from the Dukes 3-1 and 5-0.

“Our bats are cold right now, that’s pretty much it,” JMU coach Katie Flynn said. “We’re not getting enough offensive production.”

Madison (13-15 overall, 2-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association) has scored three runs in its last four games. Saturday against the Seahawks, the Dukes could muster only an RBI single by senior second baseman Kelly Berkemeier off Bosley in game one. The UNC-W senior allowed four hits and struck out five. Against Luckett in game two, the Dukes only put three runners in scoring position.

“It wasn’t unhittable,” JMU freshman third baseman Amber Kirk said of UNC-W’s one-two punch. “We’re just not doing as well as we’d like to right now.”

The Dukes appeared on the verge of breaking out of their funk in the first inning of game two against Luckett when Kirk led off the game win a ringing double off the center field fence and sophomore second baseman Jenn Chavez drew a walk.

Luckett, however, re-grouped and set down the Dukes’ three, four and five hitters in succession.

“You get your three, four and five hitters up with runners on base and you expect to get them in,” Flynn said. “We need to do a better job offensively.”

While the Dukes struggled to figure out Bosley and Luckett, the Seahawks were opportunistic against JMU pitching. They scratched out three second-inning runs against freshman right-hander Meredith Felts in the opener on an RBI single by second baseman Hayley House and a two-run double off the bat of center fielder Meghan Murray.

In game two, minutes after Luckett escaped her first-inning jam, JMU sophomore pitcher Renee Bounds dug herself into a hole, allowing two hits and walking two batters in the top of the second. Flynn came out with a quick hook and freshman Jen Clohan escaped a bases-loaded jam, but not before the Seahawks took a 2-0 lead.

“They put the bat on the ball,” Flynn said. “They put pressure on our defense and we gave them three runs in game two.”

Those runs came against Clohan in the middle innings as JMU’s defense imploded for three errors. By the end of the fifth, UNC-W led 5-0.

That was more than enough for Luckett. The right-hander settled into a groove after the top of the first inning, allowing only five base runners the rest of the way. She finished with a five-hit shut out and struck out six. JMU junior shortstop Katie George was the only Madison player with more than one hit.

“It wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before,” Flynn said. “She’s a pitcher we should be able to hit. We need to put the ball in play more often and see if they make mistakes. The ability is there, we just need to put the pieces back together.”