The James Madison Dukes softball is the team that represents James Madison University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team currently participates in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) and they play their home games in Veterans Memorial Park. JMU has won six CAA championships, including back-to-back Championships in 2016 and 2017. The Dukes have been to the NCAA Division I softball tournament nine times, hosting Regionals and Super Regionals in 2016. The team's current head coach is Loren LaPorte, leading the Dukes to a 197–74 record in her first six seasons.
Coaching history 2002–2012 Katie Flynn 283–252 .528 2013–2017 Mickey Dean 187–49 .738 2017–present Loren LaPorte 197–74 .727
Season results Season Coach RecordCAA Record Notes 2002 Katie Flynn 25–24 5–9 2003 Katie Flynn 19–31 5–3 2004 Katie Flynn 30–32 12–6 2005 Katie Flynn 28–27 8–10 2006 Katie Flynn 24–28 9–12 2007 Katie Flynn 38–16 16–4 2008 Katie Flynn 32–22 16–8 2009 Katie Flynn 35–16 12–8 CAA Champions, NCAA Regionals 2010 Katie Flynn 24–33 11–10 2011 Katie Flynn 29–23 8–11 2012 Katie Flynn 30–26 15–5 2013 Mickey Dean 42–17 18–3 NCAA Regionals 2014 Mickey Dean 45–15 15–3 CAA Champions, NCAA Regionals 2015 Mickey Dean 48–10 19–0 NCAA Regionals 2016 Mickey Dean 50–6 18–1 CAA Champions, NCAA Super Regionals 2017 Mickey Dean 52–8 18–2 CAA Champions, NCAA Regionals 2018 Loren LaPorte 43–14 19–2 NCAA Regionals 2019 Loren LaPorte 51–10 20–1 CAA Champions, NCAA Super Regionals 2020 Loren LaPorte 13–6 0–0 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Loren LaPorte 41–4 17–1 CAA Champions, Women's College World Series 2022 Loren LaPorte 21–21 10–5 2023 Loren LaPorte 28–19 13–11
2021 Season
After a dominant performance in the regular season, the Dukes entered the postseason with a 34–1 record. In the CAA tournament, the Dukes beat Delaware for their sixth conference title and were rewarded with the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA softball tournament.
The Dukes advanced to the Super Regionals after beating #9 Tennessee and #25 Liberty twice in the Knoxville Regional. They then went on to beat #8 Mizzou on the road in the best-of-three series in Columbia, Missouri.
After punching their ticket to the Women's College World Series (WCWS) for the first time, the James Madison Dukes advanced to the WCWS semifinals after beating #1 Oklahoma 4–3 in eight innings and #5 Oklahoma State 2–1 in the first and second rounds of the tournament. In doing so, they became the first-ever unseeded team to start 2–0 in the WCWS and reach the semifinal games. Their historic run came to a close just short of the finals, falling to eventual champions #1 Oklahoma twice.
Championships
Conference Championships SeasonConferenceRecordHead Coach2009Colonial Athletic Association35–16Katie Flynn2014Colonial Athletic Association45–15Mickey Dean2016Colonial Athletic Association50–6Mickey Dean2017Colonial Athletic Association52–8Mickey Dean2019Colonial Athletic Association51–10Loren LaPorte2021Colonial Athletic Association41–4Loren LaPorte
NCAA Regional appearances NCAA Regional Results+2009 Knoxville, Tennessee Regional Lost to Tennessee, 3–4 Lost to Jacksonville State, 0–62013 Knoxville, Tennessee Regional Lost to NC State, 0–2 Defeated Longwood, 5–0 Lost to NC State, 4–62014 Lexington, Kentucky Regional Defeated DePaul, 6–1 Lost to Kentucky, 1–2 Lost to DePaul, 3–42015 Harrisonburg, Virginia Regional Defeated Binghamton, 10–15 Lost to NC State, 0–2 Lost to Fordham, 1–22016 Harrisonburg, Virginia Regional Defeated Princeton, 7–0 Defeated North Carolina, 10–1 Defeated Longwood, 5–12017 Waco, Texas Regional Defeated Oregon State, 3–2 Lost to Baylor, 2–4 Defeated Kent State, 4–0 Lost to Baylor, 0–12018 Knoxville, Tennessee Regional Defeated Ohio, 2–1 Lost to Tennessee, 3–12 Lost to Ohio, 3–72019 Ann Arbor, Michigan Regional Defeated DePaul, 5–2 Lost to Michigan, 0–112 Defeated DePaul, 3–0 Defeated Michigan, 3–0 Defeated Michigan, 2–12021 Knoxville, Tennessee Regional Defeated Liberty, 4–310 Defeated Tennessee, 3–1 Defeated Liberty, 8–5
Notable players
National awards
NFCA National Player of the Year Megan Good (2017)
Softball America Pitcher of the Year Odicci Alexander (2021)
D1 Softball's Woman of the Year Odicci Alexander (2021)
All-Americans 2014: Jailyn Ford (2nd team) 2015: Megan Good (2nd team) 2015: Jailyn Ford (3rd team) 2016: Jailyn Ford (1st team) 2016: Megan Good (1st team) 2017: Megan Good (1st team) 2018: Megan Good (1st team) 2018: Odicci Alexander (3rd team) 2018: Kate Gordon (3rd team) 2019: Odicci Alexander (3rd team) 2019: Megan Good (3rd team) 2019: Kate Gordon (3rd team) 2021: Odicci Alexander (2nd team)
Coaching Staff Awards NFCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year (2021) NFCA Northeast Coaching Staff of the Year (2021)
References