JMU baseball plays in honor of Lauren Bernett

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The James Madison baseball team took the field Wednesday night in the first sporting event featuring a JMU team since the tragic death of Dukes’ softball player Lauren Bernett.

JMU played hard and performed well in a tough, 11-8, loss at No. 7 Virginia Tech Wednesday night in Blacksburg. Members of the JMU baseball team had the initials “LB” written on their hats, the initials were also taped on both dugouts, and Bernett was honored with a tribute on the video board.

“I am really proud of my teammates with the hard days that are really still going on,” said JMU graduate pitcher Nick Stewart. “Just one day after we found out about the news, I am just really proud about the way we were able to persevere and we played in that game close the whole entire time really....we were kind of able to do it and we knew she was looking over us the whole time.”

The JMU baseball and softball teams share the same indoor facility and both teams compete at Veterans Memorial Park.

“You just take things into perspective and you understand we are playing a game,” said JMU baseball head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “But at the end of the day we are a team and we are there to support one another.”

Ikenberry says after learning of Bernett’s death, the JMU baseball team met and decided to play Wednesday’s game at Virginia Tech while making sure to honor the JMU softball star.

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