HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., May 6, 2009 – JMU senior right-hander Meredith Felts (Greenville, N.C./J.H. Rose) threw a one-hit shutout to lead the fourth-seeded Dukes past top-seeded Hofstra 2-0 in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Championships at the Hofstra Softball Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y. on Wednesday.

JMU improved to 33-14 overall while dropping the Pride to 26-20 this season.  Madison moves on to play the winner of the 3:30 p.m. game between Georgia State and Towson, while Hofstra moves to the losers' bracket and will play the loser between the Panthers and Tigers.

HU’s Kayleigh Lotti and Felts started out this year’s championship the same way they finished last year’s, by putting up scoreless innings.  The CAA’s top two pitchers matched each other pitch for pitch through five scoreless innings.

The Dukes broke up the shutout in the sixth inning, pushing a run across to take a 1-0 lead.  Junior first baseman Shannon Moxey (Church Road, Va./Mills Godwin) led off the inning with a single into center field, and sophomore pinch runner Melissa Hill (Santee, Calif./Westhills) moved to third on a single by senior third baseman Amber Kirk (Hamilton, Va./Loudoun County) and a groundout.  Freshman Ashley Burnham (Danvers, Mass./Danvers) came up with the crucial two-out hit for JMU, lofting a soft pop-up just behind the pitcher’s circle and beating out the throw to plate Hill.

That was all the offense Felts needed as she out-dueled the three-time CAA Pitcher of the Year for her 17th win of the year.  Felts set down 10 of the final 11 batters she faced and 21 of 24 overall as she went the distance for her eighth shutout and her 17th complete game of the year.  She allowed one hit, a single in the third, walked two and struck out nine.  The Greenville, N.C., native has allowed just two hits in her last 16 innings pitched and has not allowed a run in her last 20.

Freshman pinch-hitter Casey Mansfield (Suffolk, Va./Isle of Wight Academy) gave the Dukes an insurance run in the seventh to make it 2-0.  Senior second baseman Kaitlyn Wernsing (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.  JMU head coach Katie Flynn pulled the right strings, bringing Mansfield off the bench, and the freshman delivered, lacing the first pitch she saw right back up the middle to score Wernsing.

Lotti took a tough-luck loss for the Pride to fall to 18-8 this season.  The senior allowed seven hits and two earned runs, walked one and struck out eight in seven innings of play.

Kirk paced the JMU offense, going 2-for-4 with two singles, while Moxey, Burnham, Mansfield, Wernsing and junior right fielder Courtney Simons (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) all finished with one hit each.

Center fielder Erika Bernstein picked up the lone hit for Hofstra, singling with two outs in the bottom of the third.

Notes:  The start of the game was delayed 20 minutes while the field crew worked on an issue in the infield... This was just the second time in the eight-year history of the CAA Championships that Hofstra lost its opening game... JMU improved to 8-10 in CAA Championship play with the win.

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