SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The George Mason softball team split a pair of games
in the first day of the USC Upstate tournament, defeating Winthrop, 3-1, in the
first game before falling to host USC Upstate in a five inning 8-0 game. Mason
moved to 2-4 overall this season after the opening day of the tournament.
In the Winthrop game,
Mason scored two runs in the fourth inning behind runs from Cori Prince and
Brooke Blankenship. Prince crossed the plate after Blankenship hit a double to
right center to move her to third base and scored on a wild pitch that moved
Blankenship to third. Christina Gabriele set the tally at 2-0 with an RBI
single that scored Blankenship.
After being shut down
for five innings, the Eagles got on board in the sixth inning when Zharne
Glover reached first on a bunt single. Chelsey Schoenfeldt drove in the run
with an RBI single through the left side to allow Glover to reach home plate
and put the score at 2-1.
Mason got the run back
in the top of the seventh when a pair of fielding errors allowed Julia
Czarnecki to score Mason's final run of the contest. Gabriele was the winning
pitcher allowing only three hits and one run, while Sara Allen picked up the
loss.
USC Upstate's Anna
Miller threw a five-inning no hitter in Mason's second game of the afternoon as
the Spartans topped the Patriots, 8-0. After two scoreless innings, USC Upstate
took a comfortable lead in the bottom of the third using five hits to score
three runs. An RBI single from Shellie Robinson drove in Lindsay Kelly and
moved Meredith Barnes to third. Cheyenne Griffin made it a 2-0 contest for the
Spartans, driving in Barnes with a single through the right side and with bases
loaded, a walk from Maddison Kieffer forced Harris to score and push the score
to 3-0 forcing Harris to score.
USC Upstate added four
insurance runs in the next frame using a three-run home run from Meredith
Barnes to left center. The Spartans capped the inning with an RBI single from
Kieffer. Kelly accounted for the final 8-0 score with an RBI groundout in the
fifth, driving in Lohr for the final score.
Miller moved to 2-0 on
the season with the no-hitter, while Casey Herring picked up the loss for the
Patriots.
Mason will be back in
action tomorrow for a noon contest with Bowling Green.
