Statesboro, Ga. --- The Georgia Southern baseball team (25-22, 11-12 SBC) took down James Madison (14-33, 7-16) with a 5-3 victory on Saturday evening (May 3rd).

Before the first pitch was even thrown, a five-hour weather delay was issued, pushing back the start time to when the sun had nearly set. On the field, Once the gamed was officially underway, the Dukes stormed out to an early 3-0 lead in top of the second inning. The Eagles would respond in the bottom of the same inning with Luke Odden drawing a bases-loaded walk to score Sean White to get the Eagles their first run of the game. Kade Grundy would battle back after the early runs to keep JMU off the scoreboard for the rest of the game. The senior went 6.1 innings, and did not allow a run in his final 4.1 innings, while tacking on five strikeouts. 

After a leadoff double from JP Herrholz, Johnthan Jamie sent him home with a clutch two out single to center field to put the Eagles within one. Later in the fifth inning, White and Nico Senese would use Grundy's turnaround to fuel two homers to left field putting the Eagles in front 5-3. For White, it would be his fifth homer of the season and Seneses' third. Jacob Philips would close out the final 2.2 innings scoreless, only allowing one hit and fanning two Dukes. Since their three runs in the first two innings, JMU's offense would be contained for the final 7.2 innings. 

Two Eagles had multi-hit games in Josh Tate and Jaime. Along with each of their two hit performances, Senese would rack up two RBIs of his own on the night. Georgia Southern picks up their first regular season win vs JMU since their 4-2 win that dated back to May 20th of 2023. The win also sets up a series deciding game that could have major implications in the conference standings. 

The rubber match of the series is set for a 12 PM first pitch at J.I.(May 4th), where it is not only Star Wars Day, but the team will also wrap up their VS Cancer series by shaving their heads after the game.