Fairfax, Va. – George Mason University's softball team will host two tournaments during the 2016 season – the annual Patriot Classic and Cherry Blossom Classic – and will make two non-conference trip to Florida before it begins its third season in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Mason, which will begin its 12th season under head coach Joe Verbanic, with second-season assistant coach Megan Blank and first-season assistant coach Caitlyn de la Haba, will begin the 2016 season with a trip down south for the 2016 Madeira Beach Spring Invitational. The Patriots will play five games in the span of three days – against Siena and de la Haba's alma mater Villanova on Feb. 19, Manhattan and Providence on Feb. 20 and finally against tournament host Eastern Michigan on Feb. 21.
In the beginning of March, Mason will host the Patriot Classic, rekindling the tradition of the annual tournament after its 2015 edition was canceled due to inclement weather. Five teams, including Mason, will play against each other at the George Mason Softball Complex during the weekend of March 4-6. The Patriots will open and close the tournament against Columbia and Howard, respectively, and will also play games against Marist and Army. The only two teams which will play five games are Howard and Marist as they will meet twice over the weekend.
The following week the team heads back down to Florida for an action-filled spring break week. On March 8 and March 9, the Patriots will play midweek double-headers against Jacksonville and Bethune Cookman and will then participate in the Stetson Tournament, where they will face University of Tennessee at Martin, Wagner, and the host Stetson over the course of two days.
During the weekend of March 18-20, Mason will host the 2016 Cherry Blossom Classic. The Patriots will be the only team that plays only four games in the tournament, while all other teams – Canisius, St. Francis (Pa.), Cornell and Georgetown – will play five games apiece in the three-day event.
The Patriots will begin conference play at home in the last weekend of March, when they welcome Rhode Island for three games, including a March 26 double-header. The team then closes out the month with the first of four remaining non-conference double-headers, on the road at Towson on March 30.
In the beginning of April, Mason will make its first A-10 trip of the season to play three games against Massachusetts on April 2-3. The Patriots will go on a seven-game home stand between April 6 and April 13, hosting a non-conference series against Maryland Eastern Shore and continuing conference competition against Dayton and George Washington. The second half of the month will feature mostly road trips for the team, visiting Saint Joseph's (April 16-17), La Salle (April 23-24) and closing non-conference play at Virginia (April 27). The Patriots will make a short break from A-10 travel, when they host Mount St. Mary's for a double-header on April 20.
The team will welcome May in the middle of its final home series in A-10 competition, when Mason welcomes Saint Louis (April 30-May 1). Then the Patriots will wrap up the regular season with a series against Fordham in New York before coming relatively close to home for the A-10 Championship, which will be hosted by George Washington.
