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James Madison earned its second shutout win over the University of Hawaii softball team this week with an 8-0 victory in five innings on Thursday in the Pepsi Rainbow Wahine Classic.
JMU left-hander Jailyn Ford struck out eight and held UH to three hits in a complete-game victory. The Dukes broke away with four runs in the fourth inning and brought the mercy rule into effect on Niki Prince’s three-run homer in the top of the fifth.
JMU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second but UH’s Keiki Carlos escaped a bases-loaded jam to end the inning. JMU loaded the bases again in the third but Carlos got out of it with a 5-2-3 double play.
JMU’s Madyson Moran and Mimi Morris led off the fourth inning with singles just over the UH infield and came around to score on Hannah Hayes’ single and Erica Fields’ double.
Ford’s sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Sandy pushed JMU’s lead to 5-0.
Prince ended Carlos’ stint in the circle with a three-run home run to left field with one out in the top of the fifth.
In the second game of UH’s doubleheader, BYU rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh in the Cougars’ 3-1 win. Campbell graduate Katie Manuma delivered the decisive blow with a two-run double with one out in the seventh.
Kaile Nakao had given UH the lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth and the Wahine protected a 1-0 lead going into the seventh.
With one out, Gordy Bravo singled and McKenzie St. Clair followed with her second double of the game. Manuma then worked the count full and doubled to right to give BYU the lead. Manuma was thrown out at third but Ashley Thompson followed with a home run to center.
BYU reliever McKenna Bull struck out the final seven batters she faced and earned the win. Loie Kesterson took the loss in a complete-game effort.
UH (12-12) faces No. 2 Oregon at 6 p.m. on Friday to close the round-robin portion of the tournament. Bracket play begins later Friday night between the fourth and fifth seeds.
