Dukes clip Seahawks

JMU sweeps UNC-W with onslaught of offense in CAA series

Jonathan Taylor / contribtuing photographer JMU junior second baseman Kelly Berkemeier applies the tag to a Wilmington base runner Sunday afternoon at the JMU Softball Complex. Berkemeier went 2 for 3 with three runs-scored in the Dukes ninth consecutive victory and second conference series sweep.

When T.S. Eliot wrote, "April is the cruelest month," he didn’t have the JMU softball team in mind.

Since entering April, the Dukes are 11-3 after going 14-17 in March and February — but where they’ve been the hottest is in conference play.

Sunday, Madison won its ninth straight and completed their second consecutive Colonial Athletic Association sweep, slaughter-ruling the University of North Carolina-Wilmington in six innings, 11-3, amid flurries at the JMU Softball Complex.

"They made a lot of mistakes and that helped us out a lot," JMU coach Katie Flynn said. "But a lot of that was the result of us hitting the ball hard."

In the weekend Wilmington series, JMU scored 22 runs while pounding out 27 hits, including 11 runs and 11 hits Sunday.

"This is definitely a good time to get hot," junior third baseman/pitcher Briana Carrera said. "If we keep hitting like this, we’ll be good to go."

It was Carrera who got JMU going in the rubber game Sunday. In the bottom of the third, the San Diego native slapped a two-run single with the bases loaded that put the Dukes (6-6 CAA, 25-21 overall) on top 5-2 after the Seahawks (2-10, 20-40) jumped out to a two-run advantage in the first.

"It was pretty big considering we were only ahead 3-2," Carrera said. "When we get insurance runs, it allows the pitchers and everyone to relax and not be so tense."

The Dukes would consistently add "insurance" the rest of the game. In the fourth, they put up four runs. In the sixth, they scored two more on an RBI single from sophomore shortstop Katie George, which brought the slaughter rule into effect (eight runs after five innings).

"I was in a little bit of a slump early in the season," Katie George said. "A lot of it was mental and I put a lot of pressure on myself. Then at one point, I just said, ‘go out there and have fun.’ It was a change in mindset."

The new mindset yielded two home runs in the series with the Seahawks. Sunday, she went deep with a solo shot in the first inning. Saturday in the series opener, she connected on a three-run shot. For the series, she finished with six RBIs and has four home runs for the year.

"Right now, it feels like were playing like we did last year," Katie George said. "We just got off to a bad start and now we are starting to come around."

The come-around started April 16 in Fairfax when the Dukes took three from George Mason University after being swept in their two prior CAA matchups against Towson University March 26 and 27 and Drexel University April 9 and 10.

"[The losses hurt] the seniors. It meant a lot to them," senior pitcher/outfielder Liz George said. "Our whole team was disappointed with the previous CAA series’."

Next up for the Dukes is more of the CAA when they travel to Hempstead, N.Y., to face off against first place Hofstra University (7-1, 29-13) Saturday.

"You want to be hot when you only have six games left to go," Flynn said. "The offense is on fire and the pitching has been great. This is the spot you want to be in."