Founded in 1970, the James Madison

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

program played at

Long Field at Mauck Stadium Long Field at Mauck Stadium is a baseball venue located on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. It was home to the James Madison Dukes baseball team, a member of the Division I Colonial Athletic Ass ...

through the end of the 2009 season. In 2010 they opened play at

Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park is a baseball venue in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. It is home to the James Madison Dukes baseball team of the NCAA Division I Colonial Athletic Association. James Madison University joined the ...

, the school's new baseball and softball complex. The "Diamond Dukes," as the team is known, have compiled a 1092-670-8 all-time record and have made the NCAA tournament nine times, most recently in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. The Dukes compete in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

Billy Sample William Amos Sample (born April 2, 1955), is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves in parts of nine seasons spanning 1978–1986. Early life A native of Roanoke, Virgi ...

is JMU's most famous baseball alumnus, who played in 862 career major league games with the Texas Rangers,

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. In the 2006 season, JMU had the top-two home run hitters in Division I. One of them,

Kellen Kulbacki Kellen Robert Kulbacki (born November 21, 1985) is an American former professional baseball player who won numerous awards and honors during his college career. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first round of the 2007 Major League Bas ...

, placed in the top five in all three of the

triple crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

categories. Kulbacki received the 2006 National Player of the Year award as a sophomore. In 2008, the Dukes won their first

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

Championship defeating

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

qualifying the team for the

2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from May 30 through June 25, 2008 and was part of the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 286 teams on May 26, ...

hosted by

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

Raleigh, NC Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southea ...

. The Dukes also won the CAA Championship in 2011 defeating

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

qualifying the team for the

2011 NCAA Division I baseball tournament The 2011 NCAA Division I baseball tournament began on Friday, June 3, 2011 as part of the 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 29 ...

References

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