Dukes playoff chances fading
Dukes sit in sixth place with six games remaining
By Matthew Stoss, senior writer
Posted on April 24, 2006

The last time the JMU softball team saw Hofstra, the Dukes were leaving Hempstead, N.Y., on the wrong end of a 3-0 score that eliminated them from the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

That was last May, but once again the Pride have the opportunity to have a hand in eliminating the Dukes — this time from even making the 2006 CAA Tournament set to begin May 11. JMU just doesn’t plan on making it that easy.

“We just have to go one game at a time,” JMU senior Megan Smith said. “We’re going to leave it all on the field.”

Over the weekend, Hofstra, which sits in first place in the conference, visited Harrisonburg for a Saturday/Sunday three-game set almost two weeks removed from an 11-game winning streak snapped April 11. Since then, the Pride has won five out of six including the opening game of the JMU series, which began Saturday but was suspended until Sunday due to rain. The Dukes dropped it 3-1 in extra innings at JMU Softball Complex.

After Hofstra, Madison has six games remaining — three against fourth-place Delaware (6-6, 27-16) next weekend and three at seventh-place Drexel (4-8, 14-24) May 6 and 7. Only four teams make the CAA tournament and right now, the Dukes (4-8, 19-24) would be left out as they sat in sixth before play began over the weekend. Towson (4-8, 24-22) is in fifth.

“Our focus right now is that we need to play better than Drexel, Towson and Delware,” Dukes coach Katie Flynn said after losing Game 1 Sunday morning.

Another variable in this year’s tournament equation is the addition of Georgia State — a team that has made some noise going 9-3 in the CAA on its way to second place in the league.

“It’s basically the same system as last year, but we’ve got an additional team,” Hofstra coach Bill Edwards said. “Georgia State is the real deal and it’s really had an impact our league.”

The Dukes have felt that impact. Georgia State swept JMU April 8 and 9 in Atlanta. The losses kicked off a rough stretch for the Dukes in which they dropped 9 of 10 and lost two straight conference series. They only snapped the skid Wednesday, taking two from Norfolk State. Before losing 9 of 10, the Dukes were 16-15 overall and 3-3 in the CAA, but now it’s out of Flynn’s mind.

“It’s over now because we won two,” the fifth-year coach said.

In the opening game of the Hofstra series, JMU couldn’t build on those wins. The Dukes made five errors, which lead to three unearned runs. At the end of seven innings, the Pride and the Dukes were tied at one. In the top of the ninth, Hofstra pushed across two runs on two JMU errors.