JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – George Mason University's softball team began its second stint in Jacksonville with a bang after completely dominating Columbia for a 10-0 win at the Debbie and Fred Pruitt  Softball Complex on Friday afternoon.

Mason enjoyed its best start to a game this season, scoring multiple run in each of the first three innings – including five in the second – to grab a 10-0 lead. At the same time, sophomore pitcher Marina Vitalich (3-5) gave up only two hits in the shutout and allowed only one Lion to reach second base. Vitalich also retired eight batters in the process.

"That's probably the best game we have played all year," Mason head coach Joe Verbanic said. "We have been scuffling a little bit and we have played well in bits and pieces, but we really hadn't put all three parts of the game together and in that ball game we did."
The win was Mason's resounding response to back-to-back defeats to Stetson in a mid-week doubleheader and sweet revenge for the 3-0 loss to Columbia in the Patriot Classic two weekends ago.

"I don't look too closely at individual situations like that," Verbanic said. "We are definitely getting better every day. We are looking forward, not where we have been. We are looking to continue this process of improvement and keep working at it."

Back-to-back doubles in the opening inning resulted in RBI for redshirt sophomore third baseman Jess Middleton and freshman center fielder Mary-Elizabeth Luttrell that opened the scoring in favor of Mason. The Patriots then had a phenomenal second inning in which they scored five runs on four hits to take full control of the game. Columbia resorted to a pitching change mid-inning but Maura Lynch had just as much success as starter Tonia Wu (2-5) in taming the Patriots, who went through their entire lineup in the inning.

Freshman second baseman Sydnee Wells' first intercollegiate home run put the icing on the cake for Mason in the third inning. The three-RBI, left-center homer scored freshman shortstop Madison Aker and junior catcher Brooke Sullivan as well and got the Patriots in double digits for the first time this season, 10-0.    
"I was hoping it would be deep enough for the runners to advance to the next base and that it would be a good enough of a ball to help my team in the best way," Wells said about the home run.

The third pitcher used by Columbia in the game, Erin Gallo, finally managed to keep Mason scoreless by pitching a clean fourth inning. However, the Lions could not challenge Vitalich in the remaining at-bat chances they had, resulting in the Patriots' first shutout victory in 17 games, dating back to April last year.

"There was never a moment in which I thought we couldn't [win the game]," Wells said. "Our team is filled with talent and when we are all out on the field we trust each other and all want the ball. We didn't let the 0-5 weekend from earlier get to us."

Ironically, after not getting the chance to bat in the fifth inning in the first game, Mason turned their offense on namely in the fifth inning of the second game. Trailing 6-1 after four innings, the Patriots had another five-run inning to tie the game at 6-all. It all started with a two-run home run by sophomore Jess Curbeira before singles from sophomore infielder Erin Calpin and freshman shortstop Madison Aker and a triple by senior outfielder Katherine Marsh all led to additional RBI that tied the game at 6-6. A three-up-three-down inning by substitute pitcher Taylor Mayer continued Mason's momentum and left the game to be decided in
the final two innings.

Columbia had three hits from first four batters in the sixth inning, including a two-run triple from Sommer Grzybek. Mason made a second change in the circle as a result, but shortly after Grzybek scored herself on a wild pitch to increase Columbia's lead to three runs at 9-6.

Another wild pitch, this time by Columbia, allowed Calpin to score in the seventh inning and cut Mason's deficit to two. Gallo gave up two key walks, the first of which loaded the bases and the second of which – a hit by pitch with two outs – which scored sophomore Hayley Hinton. It was Middleton's turn to step up to bat in the heated situation and she made good contact but a catch in left field ended the game at 9-8 Columbia.

"This team has a ton of fight, I am proud of them," Verbanic said. "They don't give up, they play hard, [and] they have energy. We just have to continue to get better at the game so that we don't have to score nine to tie it or 10 to win it."

DAY NOTES

-Mason batted 16-for-57 on Friday (.281) with nine of the Patriots' hits coming in the 10-0 win. The defense limited Columbia to a .240 batting average.
-Curbeira hit a combined .333 (2-6) but had team-high five RBI for Mason.
-Freshmen Aker, Wells, and Luttrell were the three Mason players who batted 1.000 in the win, combining for five-for-five at bat. They also contributed five of the runs and six RBI in Mason's first neutral-site victory of the season.
-Each team used four pitchers over the course of the day. Among the eight, Vitalich was the only one who pitched a complete game. The sophomore had eight strikeouts in five innings, which was the combined number of strikeouts by the other seven pitchers.
-All three of Mason's freshman pitchers – Bekah Ansbro, Taylor Mayer (0-1), and Madison Larsen – pitched in the second game of the day.
-The loss in the first game was Columbia's third-straight loss in less-than-seven-inning games. Including the midweek doubleheader at North Florida, the Lions were outscored 26-0 during that run.
-Marsh's key triple in the second game was her first of this season and second in her career. The previous one was in her freshman season.
-Including the three stranded runners, Mason had 15 runners left on base on the day while Columbia had 13 on their own.

NEXT ON THE DIAMOND

Mason will play two more Jacksonville Invitational games on Saturday. The Patriots will determine a neutral-site series winner against Columbia in a noon game and will complete tournament play with a 5 p.m. game against host JU.