Image courtesy of JMU Athletics Communications 

By Bennett Conlin (This content was originally published in our newsletter)

CAA Champs – The Dukes beat Elon 12-0 in the CAA title game to win the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. JMU would’ve made the tournament regardless, but it was a good win for the Dukes. They hit five home runs in the victory.

Tournament dominance – JMU set quite a few CAA records during its three CAA Tournament games. The graphic comes from the CAA’s Twitter account. 

JMU finished the season going 23-1 against CAA teams. Elon beat the Dukes once, but there’s no doubt the Dukes are the conference’s best team by a large margin. The Dukes’ overall record sits at 47-7 entering the NCAA Tournament. 

Tournament draw – This news is less positive for JMU fans. The Dukes did not earn a seed in the NCAA Tournament. JMU is in the Ann Arbor Regional, which is hosted by 15th-seeded Michigan. The Dukes beat Michigan on a neutral field, but the Wolverines earned the national seed. Here’s JMU’s Regional:

Since the Dukes don’t play until Friday, we’ll discuss the Regional more in Friday’s newsletter, but it’s disappointing for JMU to not earn a seed. Expect the Dukes to play angrily this weekend.