March 23, 2003
Box Score
FAIRFAX, VA...George Mason's softball team lost its playoff opener but rebounded with a win in a consolation game of the Patriot Classic Sunday afternoon. The Patriots lost to Brown, 6-0, before taking a 4-1 decision over Stony Brook.
Stacy James hit four doubles on the day - two in each contest -- and went 5 for 8 at the plate, pacing the Patriots' offense.
Mason concludes its tournament with a 2-2 mark and is now 11-9 overall on the season.
In their first game, the Patriots loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first, highlighted by a lead-off double from James, but they were unable to capitalize on their one prime scoring opportunity, as the Brown defense held strong.
The Bears responded with one run in the bottom of the opening frame, when Jaimie Wirkowski doubled home Uchenna Omokaro, and they added on three more runs in the second and two in the sixth.
Omokaro, who pitched a complete game for Brown , also added RBI-hits in the second and sixth innings. Mary Seid drove in two runs for the Bears with a second-inning single, while Melissa Brown chipped in with a run-generating double in the sixth.
Mason starter Rene Leveque took the loss, allowing eight hits and five earned runs in 5.1 innings. She also had five strikeouts and two walks.
Miranda Fox, who closed out the first game for the Patriots, got the complete-game victory in the game against Stony Brook, scattering five hits and four walks, while allowing one earned run and striking out seven.
Kim Braxton went 2 for 4 for the Patriots, joining James in the multi-hit club.
The Seawolves scored first with a an RBI-double from Laura Bradford in the top of the third, but Mason countered with a tying run in the bottom of the frame and pushed ahead with a three-run fourth inning.
James started the bottom of the third with a double and moved to third on a single from Missy Hartman before scoring on a throwing error by Stony Brook's catcher in an attempt to cut down Hartman stealing second.
Additional errors from the Seawolves defense aided the Patriots in the fourth inning, as they scored three more unearned runs. Fox, pinch-running for Kathy Hrycyna -- who started the inning with a walk -- scored from second on a throw attempting to get her out at third, and Jen Clawson, who had singled after Hrycyna's walk, and James, who reached base on the inning's first error, both scored on a throwing error when Hartman put the ball in play.
Angela Andrews went the duration while taking the loss for Stony Brook, with nine hits, four unearned runs and two walks and two strikeouts.
George Mason's next games will be Thursday, when they host UMBC in a double-header that starts at 2 p.m.
