A huge in-state showdown takes place on Wednesday at Tech Softball park between two teams that have already won a combined 60 games this year. James Madison (27-6), ranked #20/#17, travels to Blacksburg to take on the #22/#20 Hokies (33-5). Both teams come into these games red hot – JMU has won 9 games in a row and 19 out of the last 20. The Hokies have won 16 out their last 17. Game 1 starts at 4:00.

For anyone who doesn’t follow softball closely, you may be surprised that JMU has created a bit of a dynasty in Harrisonburg. Here are their records over the last 6 seasons along with their results against the Hokies:

2018: 43-14 Lost in Regionals. Did Not Play VT (postponed)
2017: 52- 8 Lost in Regionals Swept VT 2-0, 7-6
2016: 50- 6 Lost in Super Regs Split with VT, 1-2, 10-1 (6 innings)
2015: 48-10 Lost in Regionals Won 2/3 vs. VT, 2-3 (8), 4-3, 10-3
2014: 45-15 Lost in Regionals Swept VT 5-2, 9-4
2013: 42-17 Lost in Regionals Split with VT 2-5, 2-1

Quick math, that’s an average of 46.7 wins per year for the Dukes with an 8-3 record against the Hokies

Much of the Dukes history of success can be traced to two cornerstones in the circle: Jailyn Ford, who signed with the Dukes in 2013 and became an All-American, and Megan Good, who signed with them in 2015 and became the National Player of the Year in 2017- a year that she finished with a 38-3 record, a 0.63 ERA, 271 Ks in 242 innings, and a .383 batting average. Unfortunately, a knee injury cost Good the 2018 season, but she has returned this season.

While Good was out last season, many expected the Dukes to take a step back. Instead, they developed an even deeper rotation. Odicci Alexander, who had won the CAA Rookie of the Year in 2017 and won the conference's player of the year award in 2018, finishing 25-8 as a pitcher as well as hitting .374 with 16 home runs and a team-high 56 RBIs. In addition, Sophomore Payton Buresch went 18-5 in the circle with a 1.96 ERA, culminating with her being named CAA rookie of the year last season.

Now with Good back, those 3 provide a balanced and deep pitching staff that ranks 10th in country in team ERA (1.61). Buresch leads the team in ERA at 1.26 but has pitched fewer innings than Alexander (1.54 ERA, 11-0) and Good (1.80 ERA, 10-5). All average approximately a strikeout per inning.

But James Madison is much more than just good pitching. The Dukes rank third in the country in scoring (7.64 runs/game), fifth in HRs per game (1.58) and ninth in batting average (.337). They have 6 hitters hitting over .349 or better: Sophomore Sara Jubas (.435), Sophomore Logan Newton (.458), Junior Kate Gordon (.407), Sophomore Hannah File (.367), Good (.351), and Junior Madison Naujokas(.349). Good and Gordon are tied for the team lead in HRs with 12.

Statistically, the Dukes and the Hokies have comparable numbers as shown by the Tale of the Tape below. The Hokies have a tad better offensive numbers while the Dukes seem to be a bit stronger on defense/pitching, VT appears to run more (47/54 in stolen bases vs. 23/30).

Metrics would indicate that the Dukes have played a tougher schedule. The Strength of Schedule component on the NCAA’s RPI sheet shows a ranking of 51 for JMU and 151 for the Hokies, while the Massey numbers are a bit closer: a ranking of 45 for JMU; 77 for VT. A big reason for the disparity is the number of games played against teams with 150+ RPIs: Tech has played 14 versus that group; JMU has played only 4.

The Dukes are 4-4 versus the NCAA Top 50 RPI Teams with wins over Tennessee (10), Michigan (15), Drake (24), and Oregon (42) and losses to Arizona (7), Minnesota (8), Kentucky (18) and Arizona State (31). Their other 2 losses are to California (#62 RPI) and Elon (376 ).
The Hokies are 4-3 versus the NCAA Top 50 RPI Teams with two wins over Louisville (33) and single wins over Georgia (34) and Lipscomb (49) and losses to South Florida (28), Louisville (33), and Georgia (34).

On games, these team match up very closely. Both teams are hot and both teams can win games with either offense or pitching.

It should be one heck of a showdown.

Let’s pack Tech Softball Park and support our Hokies – they deserve it.

Let’s Go Hokies!