FAIRFAX, Va. – Down but never out, George Mason University's softball team needed extra innings and senior leadership to overcome cross-town rival Georgetown 2-1 in its non-conference finale and extend its win streak to four games.

All runs were scored in the eighth inning and Mason's outfielder Kat Marsh, the team's only senior, was at the center of all scoring plays.

In the top of the inning, Georgetown's Sarah Bennett RBI doubled to Marsh's zone to finally break the deadlock. The senior redeemed herself in the best way possible a few minutes later by hitting a walk-off double on her first and only at-bat of the game to grant Mason the victory, which was the team's 10^th in the last 12 games.

"It feels really good to come back from having a ball hit over my head, being down from that, and having the composure to get back in there," Marsh said after her third double of the season.

The winning runs came from sophomore catcher Hayley Hinton, who was one of the other three Patriots to grab a hit in the game, and sophomore second baseman Erin Calpin. Freshman left fielder Alyssa Lawton, who made her debut at the top of the lineup, had team-high two hits.

Bekah Ansbro, who has now pitched 11-straight innings without giving up a run, started the game, but it was her fellow freshman Madison Larsen (3-8) who closed it out. Ansbro picked up five strikeouts while Larsen struck out two batters, including Georgetown's leading hitter Mallory Belknap.

Anna Brooks Pacha (8-14) threw all 139 pitches for the Hoyas, striking out four batters. She held the Patriots without a hit until the fifth inning, when Mason was closest to scoring in regulation, but a double play and a diving catch in left field kept the home team off the scoreboard.

Pacha struck five Patriot bodies – including Calpin twice – and walked four additional batters while stranding eight Mason players on base. Ansbro and Larsen, in turn, left 11 Hoyas on base.

NEXT ON THE DIAMOND
The Patriots will carry the momentum on the road as they fly to Missouri for a vital conference series against Saint Louis this weekend.

"It would have been to come off a loss and go into the long flight and the upcoming series," Marsh said. "So it's nice to have that momentum to carry us through the rest of the weekend."
 
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