April 18, 2010

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The George Mason softball team took Drexel to extra innings to decide the winner of the two teams' Colonial Athletic Association series on Sunday afternoon, but it was the Dragons who came away with a walkoff RBI single in the eighth inning to secure a 3-2 victory at Drexel Field.

Mason dropped to 14-19 and 4-8 in CAA play following the loss, while the Dragons (14-18, 5-7) secured the series win after Saturday's doubleheader split.

Sophomore Tori Dudley gave Mason the early lead in the first inning when she led off the game with a single to third base and came home to score on classmate Rachael Davies' RBI single to center three batters later.

The 1-0 Patriots lead was eliminated in the bottom of the second inning when Jenn Reading came home from third on a wild pitch. One inning later, though, freshman Emily Lafferty answered back with her second career home run and second of the series, driving a Hillary Allen pitch beyond the right-center fence to give Mason a 2-1 lead.

Mason would lead until the bottom of the sixth inning, when a Hanna Parrish groundout allowed Rachel Campbell to score from third and knot the score. While a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh by Ashley Botelho did not produce the game-winning run for Drexel, the Dragons plated the winner one inning later. Amanda Bachmann reached on a one-out fielder's choice and advanced to second on a Mason error. With two outs and Bachmann standing on third, Kelly Downes dropped a base hit into center field and gave her team the victory.

Allen (9-7) earned the win in a complete game, outdueling Mason's Becky Anderson (7-5) who also tossed a complete game, allowing two earned runs while striking out four.

The Patriots will be back in action on Wednesday, closing out their road trip with a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Mount St. Mary's.