HARRISONBURG — There isn’t panic or worry coming from James Madison’s baseball program.

The Dukes (21-19, 6-9 Colonial Athletic Association) sit eighth in the CAA standings and have three league series left on the schedule to climb into the top six. Those top six teams qualify for the conference tournament, which will be held May 23-26 at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg.

It might be awkward if JMU is left out of the event that’s happening at its own stadium.

“I don’t feel far off,” third-year coach Marlin Ikenberry said Tuesday. “That’s the thing with these kids, and as we get into the last three weekends of conference play we just got to be consistent.”

Ikenberry has his reasons for optimism.

Of JMU’s nine CAA losses, five have come by two runs or fewer. Earlier this month, it took the College of Charleston to win in walk-off fashion twice during a doubleheader to capture a series from Ikenberry’s squad.

There also isn’t much separation in the standings, and JMU can make up ground in its final three CAA series, which are all against the three teams directly above the Dukes in the standings. JMU hosts UNC-Wilmington (one of three tied at 7-5) next week, before back-to-back road series at Hofstra (7-8) and at Towson (5-7) to close the regular season.

“That’s what is unique about our league,” Ikenberry said. “Everyone is bottled up in that little crunch and as we get in down the stretch, it’s going to be interesting to see how it unfolds.

“I’ve said this, but the evolution of this team is still yet to be determined with three weeks left.

“As a coach it’s fun to watch because they’ve worked their tails off, they’ve put in the time and they’ve put in the work, but it’s going to come down to executing the small things that we’ve taught all year.”

Ikenberry said he thinks his team has played well while embracing the program’s shift to prioritize pitching and defense.

When Ikenberry took over, he had to revamp the pitching staff and that’s taken time. In 2015, the final year of former coach Spanky McFarland’s tenure at the school, the team had a 7.33 ERA.

In Ikenberry’s first season at the helm, that number lowered to a 6.58-team ERA for 2016 and then last year it dropped to 5.57. This season, the pitching staff has a 3.58 ERA — a top-50 mark nationally — as starters have logged quality innings and the bullpen has provided stability.

“[Reliever] Matt Colon is one of those guys who comes in and gets us out of jams nine times out of 10,” Ikenberry said. “Then what’s nice is we hand it to Dan Goggin, Brett [Ayer], Matt Marsili or [Shelton] Perkins.

“And I’m excited because pitching and defense wins. It does and we’ve been saying it since day one.

“… Now we just need the big hit with two outs, get a bunt down, a slash and our guys see that. That’s why there is no panic as a coach. I can look back at last weekend against William & Mary when I walked out before [batting practice] and we have four infielders already taking ground balls. It makes you feel like they understand that if we catch the baseball and we make 27 outs as fast as possible that we’ll win the game.”

Ikenberry said he believes the timely hits will come as his mixture of upperclassmen and freshmen have started to blend well together.

Senior right fielder Adam Sisk and freshman shortstop Josh Jones have shown consistency throughout the year, according to Ikenberry. Sisk is hitting .303 with five homers and 27 RBIs, and Jones leads the team in hitting with a .316 average.

But over the last two weeks, some others have started to contribute more regularly.

This past weekend, JMU got an RBI single from senior third baseman Bradley McKay and a two-run double from Sisk as part of a four-run eighth inning which helped the Dukes salvage the final contest of a three-game set at Delaware. Freshman designated hitter Hunter Johnson hit the first two home runs of his career during the series against the Blue Hens.

“It reminds me of some years in the past when I had young teams that battled through some of those one-run games,” Ikenberry said. “They figured out that we had to do certain things to win those one-run games and we have a good group of freshmen playing and a good group of seniors playing.

“And I really think that some of our seniors are starting to play well where they didn’t play well early in the year, but are starting to turn the dial a little bit. Brad McKay has had a great two series. Zach [Tondi] is doing a lot better behind the plate and Ryan Coale has had a great couple series as well in left field, and those are all older guys that when they start to play well, it takes a lot of pressure off the younger guys.”

After being rained out Tuesday, JMU plays a non-conference contest today at Maryland and then is off until May 4 when it begins the last CAA home series against the Seahawks.

“We got work to do,” Ikenberry said. “We know we’ve got to do some things to make it happen and it’s in our hands.”