March 29, 2008

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - After a run-rule loss in its first game, the George Mason softball team bounced back to split a doubleheader with Drexel in its first Colonial Athletic Association road series of the 2008 season on Saturday afternoon. Drexel (15-9, 4-1 CAA) dealt the Patriots a 9-1 loss in five innings in the opener, but Mason (8-20, 2-3) answered in the second game to record a 5-3 victory and hand the Dragons their first conference loss of the year.

Mason held the Dragons scoreless in the first inning of the day's opening game, but Drexel took the lead in the second inning with an RBI single by Williams. A five-run third put Drexel ahead 6-0 and chased Mason sophomore starter Becky Anderson from the contest, as she allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits in three innings of work. Drexel added three more in the fourth on a bases-loaded walk and a two-RBI single by Williams.

Down 9-0 at the start of the fifth inning, Mason prevented the shutout when sophomore Ashli Breau's RBI single scored junior Ali Bryan, but the 9-1 margin at the middle of the fifth inning was sufficient to give Drexel a run-rule victory.

In the second game, Drexel again scored first with a RBI sacrifice fly by Gaudier, making the score 1-0. However, it was the Patriots who came up with the big inning in the second game, as an RBI single by junior Katlyn Winter combined with a three-run home run to left by Bryan put Mason up 4-1. Mason added another run in the fifth on a solo shot to right by Breau.

From there, Anderson, who pitched a complete game en route to the victory, held the Dragons at bay. Drexel closed the gap to 5-2 with a run in the fifth inning and moved within three with an RBI single in the seventh, but Anderson induced a pop-out to finish off the win.

Mason will try for its first CAA series win of the season on Sunday when the two teams meet for the rubber game at 11 a.m.