April 24, 2010
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason softball team returned home for its final home weekend series of the season on Saturday and ran into stout defense and pitching by Georgia State as the Panthers collected victories of 3-0 and 6-0 in Colonial Athletic Association action at the Mason Softball Complex.
The Patriots dropped to 15-22 and 4-10 in CAA play following the day, while the Panthers improved to 31-14 and 10-4.
GSU took control of game one early when Whitney Phillips' solo home run barely cleared the left field fence. The Patriots had a chance at tying the game after Tori Dudley led off with a bunt single and advanced over to third, but on a fielder's choice by Rachael Davies, Dudley was picked off at the plate.
While the Mason offense remained dormant until the fifth, the Panthers tacked on two more runs in the third inning when Audrey Mason's triple landed just inside of the right field foul line, bringing in Phillips and Lauren Jones who singled earlier in the inning.
Mason got two more hits in the fifth on a leadoff single by Megan Blank and a Kara Weiner bunt single, but with runners on the corners and two outs, Dudley grounded out to end the scoring threat.
From there on each team mustered just one more hit as McCall Langford earned the victory and improved to 12-2 in a complete game. Mason's Becky Anderson (8-5) took the loss in a complete-game effort as well.
Game two saw the Panther offense stagnate until the third inning, as they struck first with three runs. An illegal pitch charged against Mason's Miranda Cranford (5-13) with the bases loaded brought in the game's first run, and Audrey Mason added a two-RBI single.
Three more GSU runs crossed the plate in the fifth, as Paige Nowacki hit an RBI single to shortstop, and Mason tacked on two more RBIs to her total with a single up the middle.
The Patriots, meanwhile, did not advance a runner past second base until the bottom of the seventh, as Kate Bustin singled and, following a Dudley hit, advanced on a fly out by Alyssa See. A groundout by Davies, though, ended the threat and preserved the shutout for GSU and winning pitcher Alana Thomas (10-4).
The teams will meet for the series finale on Sunday in a game moved up to 11 a.m. due to the threat of inclement weather in Fairfax.
