Box Score FAIRFAX, Va. – Atlantic 10 Co-Pitcher of the Year Marina Vitalich continued her superb season and Mason's in the process on Friday afternoon, pitching a complete game shutout to lead George Mason softball to a 4-0 win over Saint Louis in the A-10 Championship.
 
The victory launches the sixth-seeded Patriots (23-32) into a Saturday contest against No. 3 Saint Joseph's at 3:30 p.m. Mason has now eliminated both No. 4 Dayton and No. 5 Saint Louis in the tournament's first two days.
 
"I am really excited for the ladies," Mason head coach Joe Verbanic said. "We have worked so hard this season. We have had some ups and some downs, but we just keep persevering.

"I am excited to see it all come together at this time of the year."

The outing marked Vitalich's 20^th complete game of the season. She struck out five batters while allowing just two hits in a masterful performance. She has now allowed just two runs in 13 innings of work during the tournament.
 
Much like Wednesday's win over Dayton, Mason came up clutch late in the game, scoring all four of their runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Sophomore second baseman Erin Calpin paced the Patriots offensively, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. She also scored two of the four Mason runs in the game.
 
Senior left fielder Katherine Marsh drove in Mason's first run and went 1-for-3 on the day, while junior right fielder Brooke Sullivan and redshirt sophomore third baseman Jess Middleton each scored a run for the Patriots.
 
Vitalich retired nine of the first 11 batters and nabbed three strikeouts through the first three innings. Saint Louis put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth, but the sophomore held strong and forced a pair of flyouts to get out of the inning.
 
Meanwhile, the Patriots managed just one base runner (walk) through the first four innings, but Calpin led off the fifth by ripping a double down the left field line. Samantha Zaccari moved her over to third with a well-placed grounder, and with two down, Marsh ripped a clutch single into right field to give Mason a 1-0 advantage.
 
In the sixth inning the Patriots added a hearty amount of insurance to their lead. Sullivan led off the inning with a single and moved up to second on a wild pitch. From there, Middleton walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Calpin then proceeded to rip a double into the gap that scored Sullivan to make it 2-0. After a walk to load the bases, Zaccari and Victoria Webster drew walks to bring in two more runs and increase the Mason edge to 4-0 heading to the bottom of the sixth.
 
Saturday's meeting against Saint Joseph's will be the fifth meeting between the Patriots and Hawks within the last week. The game will be carried by the American Sports Network.

"When it's tournament time, you just line them up and knock them down," Verbanic said. "If it's St. Joe's again, so be it - we just take the field and play to the best of our abilities."

He added: "We still have not seen anything close to the best our team can offer."

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