FAIRFAX, Va. – Just like against Army on Saturday, George Mason University's softball team was undone by a single poor inning in each of its Sunday games, which made for a disappointing finish to the Patriot Classic.
Columbia used a big third inning in the early-afternoon game and later Fairfield had a strong start in the final game of the tournament to defeat Mason by identical 3-0 scores.

DAY NOTES

-Mason had a slow offensive day as a whole and recorded a hit for every seven at-bats to average .142 on the day. Even though five players batted in both games for the Patriots, no one had multiple of the team's seven combined hits against the Lions and the Stags.

-The Patriots were far more efficient offensively in their second game of the day, putting five hits on the board against Fairfield. The Stags, who batted second in the contest, picked up seven hits in six innings, which was enough to pick up the win and to close out the weekend with a 3-1 record.

-Columbia had six hits in the early game, including two from shortstop Madison Gott (.667). Gott's two-run homerun in the third inning increased the Lions' lead to 3-0 and was arguably the most pivotal play of the contest.

-Tonia Wu (1-1) and Destinee Pallotto (2-1) picked up wins against the Patriots. The Lions' freshman Madison Canby also saw action in the early game and earned her first save of the season.

-Sophomore Marina Vitalich (1-3) pitched a complete game against Columbia and gave up no earned runs. Vitalich struck out two batters, which is the combined number of strikeouts by Wu and Canby in the game.

-Freshman starter Bekah Ansbro (0-4) and classmate Madison Larsen split up the action for Fairfield, who spent the entire game in the circle for the Stags. The only earned run in Mason's two games of the day came in Fairfield's first inning, when a single by Tori Reed and a Mason error allowed Amanda Ulzheimer to cross home plate for the first of the Stags' three runs.

-Mason had five runners in scoring position over the course of the two days, including bases loaded with two outs in the fourth inning against Fairfield, but Pallotto struck out junior catcher Brooke Sullivan to relieve the pressure on the Stags' defense.

POST-GAME QUOTES

"The results of this weekend unfortunately don' t show the progress our team is making and that's a hard thing." – Mason head coach Joe Verbanic

"I love this team – they are playing hard with lots of energy and enthusiasm and that is all any coach can ask for. We are scuffling right now but we will come through this and be very good because of it."

"We are continuing to grow each game and have a lot of young players who are starting to figure out who they are and who we are as a team. We are very excited about the potential this group is showing." – Mason assistant coach Caitlyn de la Haba

NEXT ON THE DIAMOND

Mason will see its first bit of mid-week action this season on Tuesday, when it welcomes NC State for a single game that starts at 5 p.m.