Cold Bats Doom the Dukes

The Diamond Dukes took the CAA regular season crown by winning every conference series it played in. Unfortunately for the Dukes, their bats went cold and they lost 2 straight to be eliminated from the conference tourney. After a thrilling victory over UNCW to open the tournament, the top seeded Dukes fell to VCU in their next game. In the 6-3 loss to the Rams, JMU had opportunities for big innings, but couldn’t come up with the hits when it mattered. They twice left the bases loaded and failed to take control of the game.

After the loss to VCU, JMU moved on to rematch against UNCW. Each team entered the game with one loss. The winner would move to play VCU in the CAA Championship Game and the loser would find its season finished. Again, the Dukes struggled at the plate managing only 4 hits in the 3-1 loss to the Seahawks. Despite the few number hits, JMU had chances to score, leaving runners in scoring position multiple times in the early innings. After failing to take advantage of those chances, the JMU bats went ice cold and only one batter reaching base after the 6th inning.

VCU went on to defeat UNCW in the tournament final and secured the automatic bid in the process. Even with the regular season CAA crown, JMU isn’t going to have the resume to secure an at large bid. A better start to the season coupled with wins against some of the stronger opponents the Dukes played, particularly UVA and Coastal Carolina, would have really helped. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way. The Diamond Dukes season is now we need to wait to see if Kevin Munson and Trevor Knight get drafted, or if they come back to make another run. It also means that this blog is officially out of spring sports to write about. Bring on the speculative football posts!