FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University's softball team played its most important defensive inning of the season Sunday and closed out a 3-1 victory against Saint Joseph's to earn itself a spot in the 2017 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship.

The Hawks (23-26, 14-8 A-10) pulled a run back after play resumed in the halted series opener from Saturday, but sophomore pitcher Marina Vitalich (13-12) struck out two batters to give the Patriots (21-31, 12-11 A-10) the win they knew they needed to extend their season.

"It's the first goal on a team's list," Mason head coach Joe Verbanic said after the achievement. "That opens up the door for the rest of the season.

"Just like conference play is a new season – in which we showed up and did what we needed to do from the very beginning – postseason is a season on its own."

After the euphoric morning, Mason took its foot off the gas and suffered back-to-back defeats in the doubleheader that followed. Two eighth-inning runs by Saint Joseph's decided game two at 6-4 before the Hawks put in their most resounding performance for a 6-0 win in the series finale. Freshman Bekah Ansbro (3-11), who was brought on as a closer in game two, pitched a total of eight innings, including a complete game three.

The losses and Saint Louis' 2-0 weekend left Mason with the final sixth seed in next week's championship, which will take place at the Patriots' very own George Mason Softball Complex.

"I think there was a letdown, but not a major one," Verbanic said. "We still played hard and pitched well.

"There are a lot of lessons that we can learn from today's losses as well that would continue our continuous progress this season."

On the other hand, Saint Joseph's finished regular season as the third-best team, which means that the teams will face each other once again Wednesday in their opening games of the double-elimination tournament.

Outfielder Kat Marsh, whose Senior Day was partially ruined by Saturday's rain, expressed her delight in having another opportunity to play in front of home crowd at least two more times.

"It's nice to be able to come back out Wednesday and keep pushing towards what we set ourselves to do from the very beginning," she said.

Freshman catcher Sydnee Wells and redshirt sophomore Jess Middleton combined for four of Mason's six hits and three of the Patriots' four RBI in the momentum-swinging game two. Wells grabbed both of her RBI with a well-placed single in the three-run fifth inning that gave her team a 4-2 lead.

Saint Joseph's turned the offense up late on had multiple hits in each of the last three innings – and six of its 10 total hits in the game – to tie the game at 4-4 in regulation. Unearned runs by power hitters Madeline Brunck – two-of-four – and Caela Abadie – three-of-four – made all the difference for the Hawks in the eighth inning.

NEXT ON THE DIAMOND

Mason's payback opportunity will be at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. To view full championship bracket and schedule, click here.

"Anything can happen," Verbanic said. "We have one of the best pitchers in the conference and we know that. When we play well, we are tough to deal with, so anything can happen."