Brittany maynard last day

HARRISONBURG, Va. - The death of a James Madison softball star has been classified as an apparent suicide, but Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said Wednesday that an investigation into the death is continuing.

School president Jonathan Alger and athletic director Jeff Bourne announced the death of 20-year-old Lauren Bernett, a sophomore catcher and cleanup hitter for the Dukes, in a news release Tuesday.

They provided no details.

"The official report from the medical examiner’s office is pending, and out of respect for her family and friends, there is no other information to release at this time," Hutcheson said in an email.

The announcement of Bernett’s death came a day after she was named the CAA player of the week for batting .778 with seven RBIs and four runs in a three-game weekend sweep of Drexel that pulled JMU within a game of league-leading Delaware.

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