James Madison University’s baseball team swept Georgia Southern in its opening Sun Belt Conference series, winning 12-6 on March 15 at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Dukes improved their record to 10-8 overall and started league play with a 3-0 mark for the first time since sweeping Hofstra in 2013. Georgia Southern fell to 5-14 and remains winless in conference play.
Junior Kyle Langley led the Dukes offensively, going 3-for-5 with two runs batted in and three runs scored, matching his career highs. Five JMU players recorded multiple hits during the game. On the mound, senior Patrick Bauer earned his first win of the season by pitching 5.1 scoreless innings in relief, striking out four batters and retiring the first nine he faced while allowing only three hits and one walk.
Georgia Southern took an early lead with a run in the first inning and added another on a solo home run by Bennett Edwards in the second. The Dukes responded by sending ten batters to the plate in their half of the second inning, scoring six runs to take control of the game. Senior Jack Guerrero and redshirt sophomore Clay Thompson opened with back-to-back doubles, while five consecutive singles helped JMU build its lead. Sophomore Reece Moody capped off the inning with a squeeze bunt.
JMU continued to add runs throughout the game, including contributions from Jack Cannizzaro, Langley, Moody, Thompson, and Guerrero. The Eagles managed two more runs in the ninth but could not close the gap.
This sweep marks JMU’s first conference sweep at home since defeating Georgia Southern in 2024. The Dukes scored a total of 29 runs during this series—the most they have tallied in a conference series since putting up 32 against Georgia Southern two years ago—and reached double-digit runs twice for their first multi-game double-digit performance during a conference series since facing Appalachian State in 2024.
Looking ahead, James Madison will host George Washington on Wednesday before traveling to face No. 16 Coastal Carolina from March 20 through March 22.
