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HARRISONBURG, Va., April 16, 2014 –Sophomore pitcher Jailyn Ford (Hot Springs, Va./Bath County) struck out 16 batters over nine innings pitched to lead the James Madison softball team to a doubleheader sweep of North Carolina at Veterans Memorial Park, Wednesday. JMU won game one 5-1 and took the nightcap, 7-2.
The Dukes improved to 4-0 against the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, sweeping both Virginia Tech and North Carolina. They've won four straight games to improve to 33-13 on the year. UNC dropped to 22-22 with the losses.
Ford came out of the bullpen in both outings for JMU and dominated the Tar Heel lineup. She limited her opponent to one hit and one hit-by-pitch in nine innings of shutout relief work. Between her two appearances, she retired the first 21 batters she faced and 27 of 29 overall.
In game two, Ford struck out 11 and earned the win to improve to 17-6. She held UNC to one hit in her six innings pitched. She relieved junior Heather Kiefer (Potomac Falls, Va./Potomac Falls) who gave up two runs on four hits in one inning. The right-hander struck out one and did not walk a batter.
Ashley Bone took the loss for North Carolina to fall to 1-1 on the year. She gave up seven runs, but just two earned runs, on six hits and three walks in six innings pitched.
Offensively, Madison was paced by freshman right fielder Taylor Newton (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch) who went 1-for-2 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. Senior first baseman Cassidy Clayton (Acton, Mass./Acton Boxborough) went 1-for-2 with a double and two RBIs while senior pinch hitter Catherine Clavin (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) had a two-run home run in her only at-bat.
Shortstop Kristen Brown had two of the five UNC hits, going 2-for-3 with a RBI. Second baseman Erin Satterfield had a home run in three trips to the plate while center fielder Aquilla Mateen went 1-for-2 with a run.
The Tar Heels opened the scoring in the top of the first inning on Brown's RBI single. She plated Mateen who led off with a single and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt.
The Dukes responded with four unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning. The first three batters reached safely to load the bases for Madison before Bone got the next two batters to pop out. Newton delivered the clutch hit for Madison, lining a two-out single up the middle for two RBIs. Clayton followed with a double to right-center field that scored sophomore catcher Erica Field (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) from second and Newton from first.
Satterfield led off the second inning with a solo home run that chased Kiefer from the game. Ford came in and struck out seven of the first nine hitters she faced to cool off the Tar Heel attack.
The score remained 4-2 until UNC fielding error allowed Newton to score in the bottom of the sixth. Clavin followed the error with a pinch-hit, two-run homer to
