HARRISONBURG, VA -- Blue Hen designated player Barbara Traynor (right) hit a bases loaded single in the top of the seventh to score Katie DeSalvo with the go-ahead run and give the University of Delaware softball team a crucial 2-1 Colonial Athletic Association victory over James Madison Sunday afternoon at the JMU Softball Complex.

With the win Delaware improved to 31-19 overall and 8-9 in the conference, while the Dukes dropped to 22-27 overall and 7-11 in league play. The Blue Hens are currently in fourth place in the CAA standings, leading both James Madison and Towson (7-11 CAA) by a game and a half with three league games remaining. The top four teams advance to the conference tournament on May 11-13 on the campus of the regular season champion.

Delaware closes out its regular season next weekend by hosting league leader Hofstra (13-4 CAA) in a three-game series, while James Madison is at Drexel (6-11 CAA) and Towson hosts UNC Wilmington (12-6 CAA).

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Dukes pushed across the first run of the game. With two outs and nobody on base Sally Smith singled to centerfield, and after she moved to second on a wild pitch, she scored on a double down the leftfield line by Andrea Long.

Delaware tied the game in the top of the sixth when Traynor led off with a double to rightcenter and scored when Quinn Megargel reached on an error by Dukes second baseman Jenn Chavez.

In the seventh DeSalvo led off by singling through the left side, and Allison Borchers followed with a single to left. Katie Lee then struck out, but Kim Ovittore followed with a walk to load the bases. Traynor then singled to leftcenter to score DeSalvo and give the Blue Hens the lead, but Delaware could not score an insurance run as Megargel popped out and Jessica Kozlowski flied out to end the inning.

Blue Hen pitcher Carolynn Sloat then retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning to clinch the win for Delaware. Sloat improved to 18-13 as she moved into a tie for second place on the school’s single-season wins list after allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out four. James Madison pitcher Jenny Clohan gave up two runs, one earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts while falling to 9-10 on the season.

Borchers went 3 for 4 to lead the Delaware attack, while Traynor was 2 for 4 with a double, run batted in and run scored. DeSalvo finished 2 for 3 with a run scored for the Blue Hens, while Megargel and Kozlowski were each 1 for 3.

Delaware plays its final non-conference games of the season on Wednesday when the Blue Hens host Maryland in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.

Boxscore