TOWSON, Md. ? Emily Gould's grand slam in the bottom of the seventh gave the Tigers a 4-3 come from behind win over James Madison on Saturday afternoon in Colonial Athletic Association play. Towson (24-11, 7-3 CAA) got a complete game from Shannon Johnston in the circle to win its third straight game.
“All I can say right now is wow,” said Coach Lisa Costello. “Emily has come through in clutch situations for us all year and today was just another perfect example of senior leadership when we needed it.”
Heading to the bottom of the seventh, Towson found itself trailing 3-0. Meaghan Clark led off the inning by drawing a walk and Rachel Miller entered the game as a pinch runner. James Madison was able to get the first out of the inning before Erika Stasch worked a walk to put runners on first and second.
James Madison made a pitching change as Jenny Clohan moved from left field to the circle. Kim Lempa was the first batter to face Clohan and she drew a walk to load the bases. That brought Gould to the plate with one out. The senior responded by driving a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left center to give the Tigers a victory. It was Gould's fourth home run of the year and second walk-off homer of the season.
The Dukes had taken an early lead in the contest as they reached Johnston for a pair of runs in the top of the second. Ashley Burnham led off the inning with a single and moved to second on Kaitlyn Wernsing's sacrifice bunt. Clohan then singled to right field to put runners on first and third. Julia Dominguez followed with an RBI ground out to score Burnham. Brittney Dyson capped the scoring when she singled to score Clohan.
James Madison would add to its lead in the fourth as Dominguez had a two-out single. She would move to third on a Tiger error and score on Dyson's single.
The Tigers recorded three hits in the game and had six walks. Stef Streets had a pair of singles in addition to Gould's home run. Dyson was the only Duke with multiple hits as she finished with two hits and two RBIs.
Johnston improved to 14-5 on the year with her 17th complete game. She allowed three runs, two of which were earned on six hits while striking out five. Clohan falls to 12-7 on the year as she surrendered the home run. Meredith Felts had started the game for James Madison and was charged with two runs in 6.1 innings.
The Tigers and Dukes will wrap up their weekend series on Sunday when they play a doubleheader starting at noon.
