Pitchers Payton Buresch of James Madison and Trystan Melancon of Houston both entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, sources have confirmed to JWOS.
Buresch will enter her junior season in 2020 after spending the first two years of her career at JMU. As a freshman in 2018, Buresch earned the Colonial Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Year award and was named to the all-region first team and all-conference second team. She finished the campaign with an 18-5 overall record and a 1.96 ERA with ninety strikeouts to her credit in 153.2 innings of work in the circle.
In 2019, Buresch again earned all-conference second team honors, with a 1.64 ERA and a 6-1 record in forty-seven innings of work. Appearing in nineteen games overall, Buresch earned four starts and posted a trio of saves on the year.
Melancon has one year of eligibility remaining, as she will be a senior in 2020. As a freshman in 2017, the Tomball, Texas native was named to the American Athletic Conference’s all-rookie team and finished the season with a 12-7 overall record and a 2.90 ERA, with ninety-three strikeouts in just over 113 innings of work. Her first career win was also her first career no-hitter, throw against Rhode Island in February 2017.
An all-American Scholar Athlete for the second year in a row in 2018, Melancon made nineteen starts and posted a 6-9 record with a 3.31 ERA that year. In 2019, she finished the season with a 7-4 record and a 2.28 ERA in a career-low 64.1 innings pitched. She collected fifty-two strikeouts and opponents hit just .187 against her, the second-lowest mark on the team.
