COLUMBIA, Mo. (JMUSports.com) - Senior Odicci Alexander threw a complete-game one-hitter and sparked the winning rally in the seventh inning on Friday night to lead James Madison to a 2-1 victory over No. 8 Missouri in the first game of the Columbia Super Regional at Mizzou Softball Stadium, on Friday night.
The win was the 28th consecutive victory for the Dukes, who improved to 38-1 on the season, while Missouri fell to 41-16 on the year. The second game of the best-of-three super regional is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday evening, with the Dukes needing just one win to reach their first-ever Women's College World Series.
Alexander continued her brilliant season in the circle as she improved to 15-0 on the year, throwing all seven innings and yielding just one hit to one of the nation's strongest lineups, striking out 10 along the way. She tossed her 10th double-digit strikeout game of the season against the Tigers.
The senior also opened the top of the seventh with an infield single - the Dukes' first hit of the evening - to key a three-hit rally that saw JMU break a scoreless tie and take a 2-0 lead into the final half-inning.
After senior Madison Naujokas was hit by a pitch, fellow redshirt junior Lynsey Meeks laced an infield single deep into the hole to load the bases. Redshirt freshman Emily Phillips, a Chesapeake product, finally broke the stalemate, dropping a pinch-hit single into shallow left center field to make it 1-0 before freshman Lauren Bernett plated Naujokas on a sacrifice fly to provide the eventual game-winning run.
Missouri loaded the bases twice in the bottom half, cutting the lead to 2-1 on a walk before Alexander got leadoff hitter Brooke Wilmes to fly out to left to close the victory.
