March 9, 2007

Fairfax, Va.--George Mason University's softball team will host its second-straight tournament as the Patriots welcome Brown, Morgan State and Youngstown State for the Mason Invitational held March 10-11 at George Mason softball field. The games are scheduled for 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. both days, with the Patriots' first game on Mar. 10 at 9 a.m. against Youngstown State.

Mason heads into this weekend's competition with an overall record of 4-5, including having won three out of four at its own Patriot Classic (March 3-4). The Patriots opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Niagara in and then shutout Central Connecticut, 8-0, in the same day. Mason fell to Cornell by a score of 9-0 on March 4, but bounced back with a 4-2 win over Central Connecticut.

Junior Amanda Bach played in all four games for the Patriots and ended the weekend with a .417 batting average, including a 5-of-12 showing at the plate, four of which were doubles. Freshman Becky Anderson also garnered a batting average of .417 after playing in all four contests and tallied five hits, one of which was a double and another was her first collegiate homerun, which helped lift Mason over Central Connecticut the second time around.

On the mound, Anderson appeared in two games over the weekend and earned a 1-0 record in nine innings of work.Anderson only allowed seven hits, walked one and struckout five batters. Junior Arielle Weinkofsky also pitched for nine innings, earned a win and also tallied her second save of the season. Weinkofsky only gave up two hits, while walking three and striking out a team-high six batters.

Brown opened up its season March 2-4 at the Charleston Southern Tournament in Charleston, S.C. The Bears defeated Bowling Green 4-3, and then 3-1 against host Charleston Southern on Friday, carried another win over to Saturday, by defeating Hartford, 4-3. Sophomore Kelsey Wilson was at the mound for the Bears, and received the win. Then Brown picked up its fourth win over St. Bonaventure, in a 3-1 victory. The two losses came Campbell (1-0) and Providence (10-2).

Morgan State, a member of the Mideastern Athletic Conference, owns a 2-2 record heading into this weekend. The Bears opened up their season on Feb. 17 and claimed a 10-7 victory over South Carolina State and then lost in the second game of the double-header, 6-0. Two days later, MSU split with Winston-Salem State as the Bears were edged by a score of 8-7 in the opening game, but fought back to win the second by a score of 9-2 in North Carolina.

Youngstown State will open up defense of its 2006 Horizon League Tournament Championship when the 2007 campaign commences this weekend. The Penguins return 13 letterwinners and seven starters from last season's NCAA Regional Tournament squad, including All-Horizon League and All-Tournament Team pitcher Karlie Burnell.

Mason will also face Morgan State on March 10 (11 a.m.) and will compete against Brown (1 p.m.) and Morgan State (3 p.m.) the following day.

Mason Invitational Schedule March 10, 2007 9 a.m.: Mason v. Youngstown State 11 a.m.: Mason v. Morgan State 1 p.m.: Youngstown State v. Brown 3 p.m.: Brown v. Morgan State

March 11, 2007 9 a.m.: Brown v. Youngstown State 11 a.m.: Youngstown State v. Morgan State 1 p.m.: Mason v. Brown 3 p.m.: Mason v. Morgan State