CHARLESTON, S.C., Feb. 15, 2013 – Freshman pitcher Jailyn Ford (Hot Springs, Va./Bath County) hit two home runs at the plate and twirled a shutout in the circle to guide the James Madison softball team to a 6-0 win over the College of Charleston in game two of the Cougar Classic Friday.
JMU swept both ends of its doubleheader on Friday and improved to 2-0 on the season. Charleston lost its season opener to fall to 0-1 on the year.
Ford became the fourth player in school history to throw a shutout in her first career start, joining sophomore teammate Sarah Mooney (Huntersville, N.C./North Mecklenburg) and former Dukes Heather Dindinger (2010) and Meredith Felts (2006-09). She scattered four hits and three walks over seven innings, while striking out six. The left-hander improved to 1-0 on the campaign.
Hope Klicker dropped to 0-1 with the loss. She gave up six runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched. The sophomore walked one and struck out one before giving way to freshman reliever Valerie Cassell. Cassell struck out four and allowed three hits in 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief.
At the plate, Ford went 2-for-4 with two home runs. She scored twice and picked up a JMU freshman record with five RBIs. Mooney went 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk, two runs scored and a RBI. Senior center fielder Jasmine Butler (Winter Garden, Fla./WestOrange) added two hits, two runs scored and two stolen bases and senior designated player Megan Shinaberry (Davie, Fla./McCarthy) added a double and a single in four at-bats.
Four different players recorded a hit for the Cougars led by first baseman Chandler Frisbie who went 1-for-3 with a double. Second baseman Ashton Jarrett, center fielder Carly Corthell and right fielder Kristy Giragosian each added singles.
The Dukes jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Klicker in the top of the first inning. Butler started the attack by beating out a one-out infield single. She stole second and moved to third on a ground-out before scoring on a single up the middle by Mooney. Ford came to the plate next and launched her first career home run, smashing a 3-1 pitch to deep left-center field.
Ford added her second home run of the game, a three-run bomb to dead center field, to put Madison up 6-0 in the top of the fifth. Butler again initiated the offense with an infield single and moved to second on a ground-out. After Butler stole third, Mooney drew a four-pitch walk to set up Ford’s line drive blast over the center field fence.
JMU continues its season-opening tournament on Saturday with a pair of games at Patriots Point Stadium. The Dukes start the day at 10 a.m. against East Tennessee State before taking on Towson at noon.
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