CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina Softball team (24-5) fell to the James Madison Dukes (14-7) 2-1 in a low-scoring battle at St. John Stadium on Saturday.
 
The Chants were the first to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning when Diamond Williams slotted a single up the middle to drive in Keirstin Roose from second base to give the Chants a 1-0 lead.
 
JMU squared the score at 1-1 in the top of the third inning when Kylee Gleason struck an RBI single to left-center field to put the Dukes back in the game.
 
It was a pitching duel for the next four innings, with Raelee Brabham recording back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the top of the fourth and fifth innings and struck out five JMU hitters over the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.
 
The Dukes' starting pitcher Kylah Berry pitched a three-up, three-down inning of her own in the bottom of the third and fourth innings and held Coastal's offense to just four hits from the third inning on.
 
James Madison took the lead for the first time in the game when Kate Carrier crushed an RBI single to left field in the top of the eighth inning to make the score 2-1.
 
CCU was unable to come up with an answer in the bottom of the eighth inning to give JMU a 2-1 victory.
 
Brabham dropped to 9-2 with the loss but tallied a career-high 13 strikeouts while giving up two runs in 8.0 innings of work in the circle.
 
The Chants will be back in action tomorrow at St. John Stadium for the series-deciding match-up. First pitch is at noon ET.
 
For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (Twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.