HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison baseball began Sun Belt Conference play with a series sweep by knocking off Georgia Southern, 12-6, on Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Dukes improved to 10-8 and are 3-0 in league play for the first time since sweeping Hofstra in 2013. The Eagles dropped to 5-14 (0-3 Sun Belt).
Junior Kyle Langley led JMU at the plate, one of five Dukes to record multiple hits. The left fielder went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored, tying his career high in hits and runs scored.
On the mound, senior Patrick Bauer earned his first win of the season behind his longest outing of the year. He tossed 5.1 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts, retiring the first nine batters he faced, as he scattered three hits and a walk.
How It Happened
First Inning
GS struck first on the third batter of the game, using a double to bring in a run.
Second Inning
Bennett Edwards hit a solo home run to push the Eagles’ lead to two.
The Dukes sent 10 batters to the plate in response, scoring six runs to take the lead for good. Senior Jack Guerrero and redshirt sophomore Clay Thompson led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to get JMU on the board. After advancing to third on a passed ball, Thompson scored to tie the game on a groundout.
Five consecutive singles loaded the bases and brought three runs in, with Langley’s base hit giving JMU the lead and junior Ike Schmidly’s extending the lead by two runs. Sophomore Reece Moody capped the scoring with a squeeze bunt to make it 6-2.
Fifth Inning
After using a groundout to bring home a run in the second inning, senior Jack Cannizzaro drove in a run to make it 7-2 on a sacrifice fly.
Sixth Inning
The Dukes added a pair of runs in the sixth on Langley’s second single of the game and a sacrifice fly from Moody.
Seventh Inning
Thompson doubled to lead off the seventh, moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and then made the score 10-2 on a passed ball.
Eighth Inning
With two on, Guerrero lined a single up the middle to score a run and was followed by a fielder’s choice from Thompson to make the score 12-4.
Ninth Inning
A double and a groundout scored two for GS to make it 12-6.
Game Notes
• The Dukes earned their first conference sweep and their first conference sweep at home since sweeping Georgia Southern in 2024.
• Clay Thompson stole a season-high three bases.
• JMU scored 29 runs during the series, the most in a conference series since scoring 32 against Georgia Southern in 2024.
• The Dukes scored 10 or more runs for the second time in the series, the first time they’ve score double-digit runs in multiple games during a conference series since 2024 against App State.
Up Next
The Dukes host George Washington for a 3 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday, March 18 before heading to No. 16 Coastal Carolina on March 20-22.
— JMU Athletics —
