Diamond Dukes fall in Regional Final, 77 days till UNC goes down though!

JMU Baseball closed the 2010-2011 athletics year in the ‘Burg with a strong showing at the Chapel Hill Regional of the NCAA baseball tourney this weekend.  Although the Dukes took out Florida International and Maine, they were unable to overcome the powerful UNC Tarheels in two matchups.  After getting shelled on Friday by UNC, the Dukes played tough in the second of two games Sunday (they beat Maine in the early game) and even had the game tied in the 5th after the last of Catcher Jake Lowery’s record-setting homeruns.  But they ultimately failed to push across any more runs and the tired pitching staff finally caught up with them late as the Tarheels pulled away.  But a huge congratulations to Coach McFarland and the squad on a fabulous season that included the second-straight CAA title!

And the silver lining?  The Dukes get another shot in Chapel Hill in just 77 days!  Well, different sport, but that’s right, we’re under three months away and the countdown is ON till football season opens.  (Also means we’re only 84 days from Bridgeforth’s grand unveiling – have I mentioned that before?).  Just guessing, but I’ll bet the normally reserved Tarheel fans will be slightly more nervous when the Dukes roll in for that one than they were this weekend!  Reseating appointments are underway for ticket holders and the momentum is only building.  Whoever takes over for TJ Yates down at Carolina better start looking for DJ Bryant right now.

On the blog front, be sure and stop in Wednesday when we launch the Late 90’s JMU Music Scene Bracket of the Bands!