STATESBORO, Ga. (JMU Athletics) – A four-run second inning gave Georgia Southern just enough to get past James Madison, 4-3, in a Sun Belt softball contest on Friday evening at Eagle Field.

JMU (29-17, 11-8 SBC) saw its eight-game win streak come to an end while scoring three runs, eight hits, and an error. Georgia Southern improved to 25-20 and 7-12 in league play on four runs and three hits.

Reed Butler led a trio of Dukes that picked up two hits, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. With her seventh-inning single, she also picked up the 100th hit of her career. Rebecca Muh logged 4.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, as the Peachtree City, Ga., native logged her longest outing of the season.

Payton List notched her 13th multi-hit game of the season, finishing 2-for-3 with a run scored and RBI. Lexi Rogers picked up two hits, while Hallie Hall recorded an RBI and went 1-for-4.

How It Happened
• Both teams traded scoreless innings in the first, as starter Kirsten Fleet picked up three flyouts.
• List doubled to lead off the second, and after Lexi Rogers singled and moved List to third, a sacrifice fly from Madison Edwards gave the Dukes a 1-0 lead.
• Georgia Southern scored four in the bottom of the second, initially loading the bases on a trio of walks. A hit by pitch and two singles gave the Eagles a 4-1 lead after two.
• An RBI single from List cut the Eagles’ lead to 4-2 in the top of the third.
• Muh struck out Maxwell to end the third inning, keeping the score at 4-2.
• A pair of Georgia Southern runners reached in the bottom of the fourth, but Muh kept them off the board with a lineout and popup.
• The Dukes cut Georgia Southern’s lead to 4-3 in the top of the fifth on Hall’s RBI single through the right side, but were unable to score any more.
• Rogers picked up her second hit of the day with one out in the sixth but a pair of flyouts ended the Du’es’ threat in the inning.
• Butler poked a one-out single to left in the top of the seventh, but Hall popped up and KK Mathis struck out to end the game.

Game Notes
• Butler’s 100th hit made her the fourth JMU player to reach the 100-hit club this season (Hallie Hall, Jasmine Hall, KK Mathis).
• Muh lowered her season ERA to 4.77 with her 4.1 scoreless innings.
• JMU fell to 4-5 in one-run decisions this season while also falling to 3-10 in games where it hit no home runs.
• The Dukes fell to 23-3 in games where they out-hit their opponents this season. JMU finished with eight hits to Georgia Southern’s three.

Up Next
JMU will look to even its series with Georgia Southern Saturday at 3 p.m.

— JMU Athletics —