Allegany, NY – The George Mason softball team split the final day of a series with St. Bonaventure with a 7-1 win after falling 8-7.  The Patriots fell in the first game to the Bonnies 11-3 yesterday afternoon.

The Bonnies jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning after scoring three runs.  Desiree Gonzalez hit a homerun to score two of those three runs.  However, in the top of the third, the Patriots came back with some impressive at bats. 

After Mary O'Connor singled, Liz Seymour crushed a homerun to pick up two of her four RBI in the game.  Right after that, Brooke Blankenship doubled to reach base before Casey Price smacked a homerun to right field to bring the lead to 4-3.  The Patriots weren't done yet; Breanna Boyd then hit a homerun to left field to add one more run for the Patriots to take a 5-3 lead.

St. Bonaventure started a comeback in the next inning after Emily Belfield homered to center field to bring the Patriots lead down to 5-4.  Then, in the next inning, the Bonnies scored a run to tie the game at 5-5. 

In the top of the seventh, Brooke Blankenship hit the Patriots fourth homerun of the game to score two runs and take a 7-5 lead.  However, the Bonnies mounted another comeback that saw them eventually win the game 8-7 on a walk-off walk in the bottom of the seventh inning.

This game it was the Patriots turn to jump out to an early lead after scoring six runs in the first inning.  Casey Price, Sarah Solano, and McKenzie Jones all picked up RBI in the inning.  The Bonnies grabbed a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a homerun. 

However, the Patriots increased the lead back to six after Katie Kitts hit an RBI double to left center to give Mason a 7-1 lead.  Christina Gabriele shutdown the Bonnies the rest of the game as the Patriots won 7-1.  Gabriele pitched a complete game and gave up just one run while striking out seven batters.

The Patriots continue on the road as they travel to Rhode Island for another conference weekend series starting on Saturday.