FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's softball team got going early against La Salle on Sunday and shut the Explorers once again to claim the Atlantic 10 Conference series with a 4-0 win.

Defense and offense acted as one unit as Mason looked nothing like the team that had lost its previous game 9-0 and dominated La Salle to win its second-straight series against the Explorers.

Sophomore starter Marina Vitalich (5-6) pitched her second complete game of the weekend and kept La Salle's offense cold as the weather to earn her second straight win for the first time this season. Vitalich struck out 10 batters and led a defense that didn't commit an error. This was only the second game this season in which the Patriots had not committed an error; the first one was Saturday's series-opening 2-0 win.

"I am just going out there and pitching the way I know how to pitch and now that the defense is starting to make plays, pieces are falling together," Vitalich said after the game. "It just makes me feel a lot more comfortable in the circle knowing that I have a great defense behind me."

Freshman center fielder Mary-Elizabeth Luttrell continued where she left off the day before and picked up her third RBI of the weekend with a sacrifice flyout that scored sophomore designated hitter Jess Curbeira for 1-0 in the opening inning. In the fourth inning Luttrell stole and crossed home plate herself to allow Mason to get a firm grip of the game with her eighth run of the season, 2-0.

"I did a lot of extra hitting this week, because that is where I have struggled, everyone did a lot of extra hitting," Luttrell said, pointing out the key to the successful weekend. "We went into [the series] with a clean slate, because we want to be on the home turf playing in the conference tournament and we want to win."

Mason looked like the more energetic of the two teams during the entire game and that paid off late on when sophomore first baseman Samantha Zaccari and freshman pinch runner Alyssa Lawton covered extra bases to score and wrap up the important win.

GAME NOTES

-The Patriots batted .260 in the final game of their first A-10 series while La Salle averaged .200 at bat. Mason spread the offensive wealth well with six players grabbing one hit apiece – Curbeira, Zaccari, Marsh (the only double), sophomores Jess Middleton and Erin Calpin, and freshman catcher Sydnee Wells.

-Luttrell's run in the fourth inning forced La Salle to pull out starter Marlo Roadcap (4-4) and replace her with McKenzie Peace, which did not have much effect on the outcome. The two La Salle pitchers combined for half the number of strikeouts that Vitalich had.

-The Patriots and the Explorers had six runners left on base each over the course of Sunday's game.

NEXT ON THE DIAMOND

Mason will step out of A-10 play and will continue its homestand with a doubleheader against former Colonial Athletic Association foe Towson on Wednesday. First pitch of game one against the Tigers is at 3 p.m.