FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's softball team beat Dayton not once but twice on Saturday to head the Atlantic 10 Conference standings for the first time in its history.

Mason (9-20, 4-1 A-10) won 3-2 and 6-5, respectively, at a stadium where it had never won before, against a Dayton (15-17, 3-4 A-10) team that had led the conference series 5-2 until Saturday.

"[Today's effort is just a small example of what this team is capable of," Mason head coach Joe Verbanic said. "They were focused and played with great energy all day and it paid off in the end to get us the sweep. It was a total team effort."

Sophomore pitcher Marina Vitalich (6-6) won her eight-inning duel against the 2016 Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year Manda Cash (9-8) to lead Mason to a successful start of the day and picked up her first save of the season to ensure the memorable sweep. Meanwhile, freshman Bekah Ansbro (1-6) picked up her first intercollegiate win despite coming in to a tough situation in the second game. Ansbro limited the home team to one run in five innings and struck out six batters for her time in the circle, one more than the three Flyer pitchers combined.

On the offensive end, the Patriots showed that it is not always about how many hits you get but what you make out of them since they were outhit in both games at UD Softball Stadium. Senior left fielder Katherine Marsh was 3-for-4 in the first game and contributed a run in the big fifth inning, when the Patriots scored two runs off two Dayton errors to take the lead for the first time, 2-1.

The Flyers tied the game with a lead-off home run in the sixth inning to force extra innings, where Mason punished another Dayton error for what turned out to be the winning run. Sophomore second baseman Erin Calpin reached on a miscue in the infield which allowed fellow infielder Jess Middleton, who had tripled shortly before, to cross home plate for 3-2.

Vitalich and Cash faced each other once again when Dayton's pitcher got in the box with two outs and a runner on second in the eighth inning. Mason's pitcher prevailed in that situation, too, after she forced a groundout to secure the win.

The teams exchanged five runs in the second inning of the second game alone. Dayton had three of them, which compensated for Mason scoring one more than the Flyers in the opening inning and tied the game at 4-4. Calpin, who led the Patriots after going 2-for-3 at bat, quickly restored Mason's lead with a single to center field, which scored speedy Middleton once again.

Gabrielle Snyder hit a sacrifice flyout in the fourth inning to tie the game once again, but Mason saved the best for last. Freshman catcher Sydnee Wells, who had gone 0-3 thus far, hit the second home run of her young career to earn credit for the winning run.

A three-up-three-down fifth inning by Ansbro started Dayton's three-inning drought that lasted until the end of the game. The Flyers managed to get additional hits by Hannah DeSalvo and Lisa Tassi while Katie Ryan reached on Mason's only error for the game, but all three runners were stranded by the combined efforts of Ansbro and Vitalich.

NEXT ON THE DIAMOND

Even though Mason secured the series win on day one, the Patriots and Dayton will play one final game Sunday at noon.