James Madison University baseball secured a 3-2 victory over Georgia Southern on March 14, with junior Kyle Langley delivering a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning at Veterans Memorial Park. The win gave the Dukes a series victory and improved their record to 9-8 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
The game was closely contested, with Georgia Southern taking an early lead. The Eagles scored in the first inning on a single by Jack Myers and added another run in the fourth to go up 2-0. James Madison responded in the sixth inning when redshirt sophomore Clay Thompson hit a two-run single with the bases loaded, tying the game at two.
In the ninth inning, freshman Ryan Gocio led off with an infield single and was replaced by pinch runner Will Haacke. Sophomore Jack Anderson advanced Haacke to second base with a bunt, setting up Langley’s decisive hit into right field for the winning run.
Langley was one of three Dukes players to record multiple hits during the game, alongside senior Jack Guerrero and Thompson. Together, they went six-for-eleven at bat, contributing all three runs batted in for James Madison. Redshirt sophomore Luke McGrath earned his first career win after pitching 1.2 innings and allowing only one hit.
The victory marked James Madison’s first walk-off win since April of last season against George Mason and its first walk-off hit since March 12, 2024. It was also their fifth comeback win this season. The Dukes managed to get their leadoff hitter on base in six out of nine innings but were held without a home run for the first time in eight games.
James Madison will aim for its first conference-opening series sweep since 2013 when it faces Georgia Southern again on March 15.
