March 6, 2010
Mason-Marist Box Score
Mason-Bucknell Box Score
2010 George Mason Invitational Tournament Central
FAIRFAX, Va. - Senior Becky Anderson pitched a one-hit complete game shutout to lead the George Mason softball team to a season-opening 5-0 victory over Marist on Saturday morning in the first game of the George Mason Invitational. The Patriots would then fall to Bucknell, 6-3, to earn a split on the day.
Anderson (1-0) fanned nine batters with just one hit and one walk allowed as the Patriots jumped on the lead in the first inning, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Katie Rynex hit a bases-loaded double off the wall in left-center field and came around to score on an illegal pitch by Emily Osterhaus (0-1).
The Patriots added the punctuating run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by junior Stephanie Strother, who scored Anderson from third. In the fourth, Marist tallied its lone hit of the day, a leadoff single up the middle by Megan LaMoureux. From there, though, Anderson shut the Red Foxes down, retiring the fifth and sixth-inning batters in order.
Mason's offense was led by a 2-for-3 outing from sophomore Tori Dudley while senior Kate Bustin recorded the Patriots' other hit.
The Patriots took no break as they faced off against Bucknell immediately following the victory, and after leading into the seventh inning, a late Bison rally gave Bucknell a 6-3 win. BU put up four runs in the top of the seventh and the Patriots found no answer in the bottom half of the frame.
Sophomore Miranda Cranford (0-1) took the loss after allowing no earned runs in a complete game with six hits and four strikeouts while Bridget Gates picked up the win. Cranford led the Mason offense with a 2-for-2 day at the plate, while Sherry Finkel was 2-for-3 for the Bison.
Mason broke open a scoreless tie in the fifth inning as sophomore Caitlin Stauffer scored on a missed tag on the plate, and sophomore Alyssa See's two-RBI single made it a 3-0 game. Bucknell answered with two runs in the sixth, and took the lead for good with four runs as a throwing error by Mason allowed Mary Horton to score. Two batters later, Mary Pavlovich hit a 3-run home run to straightaway center. Gates retired the Mason seventh in order to secure the win.
The Patriots will be back in action on Sunday as the George Mason Invitational concludes, facing a rematch with Marist at 11:15 a.m. before a 3:30 p.m. contest against Cornell.
