JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – George Mason University's softball team managed to overcome a slow start against Columbia University on Saturday afternoon to eventually tie the game and force extra innings, but it was the Lions who scored a decisive run in the eighth inning to win the game 6-5.

In what turned out to be the neutral-site series-deciding game after the teams split Friday's doubleheader, Mason trailed its Ivy League opponent for the majority of the contest but fought back to give itself a chance to win and the fans in Jacksonville a dramatic nail-biter of a game which again finished in favor of the Lions.
Freshman shortstop Madison Aker was the only Mason player with multiple hits (2-4) in a game in which every Patriot hit resulted in a run. Freshman center fielder Mary-Elizabeth Luttrell (1-3) and sophomore third baseman Erin Calpin (1-4) were the other Patriots who contributed hits – and RBIs – against the Lions.

The game started in a dream way for Columbia when Amanda Nishihira hit a three-run home run with two outs in the opening inning. It got worse for Mason before it got better because Sommer Grzybek, one of Columbia's main providers on Friday, tripled to right field and later scored on Jordan Townsend's RBI to increase the Lions' lead, 4-0.

With two outs in the third inning, it looked like Mason will have a third hitless inning, but Luttrell made sure that does not happen and scored Curbeira with a single to put the Patriots on the board. The center fielder then made a key base steal that allowed her to score herself on Calpin's double to left center.
After a couple of quiet innings, Mason went into the bottom of the sixth inning trailing three once again on Genny Soltesz' RBI double in the top of the inning and was being outhit 8-2 up until that moment. The Patriots still had a few tricks up their sleeves, however. Aker got the later run going with a two-RBI triple, which scored classmate pinch runners Alyssa Lawton and Erika Elias to bring the Patriots within one at 5-4.

In a high-pressure seventh-inning situation with loaded bases and two outs Mason, it was Columbia shortstop Krystin Wong who flinched first and her error allowed freshman first baseman Samantha Zaccari to score an unearned run for  5-5. The Patriots even had a chance to win the game in regulation with senior left fielder Katherine Marsh at bat, but this time Columbia's defense stood its ground and picked up the third out.
Soltesz and second baseman Maura Lynch, who picked up the final putout in regulation, were in the center of events again in the eighth inning after hitting the RBI single for, and scoring, what turned out to be the winning run.

The drama in Mason's seventh inning closely resembled that from Friday night's second game. With two outs and runners on second and third, Curbeira stepped up with a chance to win it for the Patriots, but could not get her powerful hit to right field past Soltesz.  

Mason finished the day with an 8-1 defeat to host Jacksonville University, who beat Columbia 8-7 in extra innings in the game before that. The Patriots had multiple hits only in the fourth inning – a double by Zaccari and a triple by freshman catcher Sydnee Wells – to score their only run. However, Columbia responded with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 7-1 and regain control of the game. A double by Makenzie Buss in the sixth inning scored designated hitter Seana Mora for the final run of the game.