• Mason goes 1-1 in its Friday slate, highlighted by a 13-0 win vs. Hartford.
• Junior Jess Curbeira goes a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate on Friday, now holds a .526/.550/1.000 slash line.
• Junior Marina Vitalich tosses a five-inning complete game shutout while surrendering just one hit.

 
GAME ONE FINAL: Mason 13, Hartford 0 (PDF Box Score)
Winning Pitcher: Marina Vitalich (1-1) – Losing Pitcher: Isabella Gerone (1-1)
 
GAME TWO FINAL: Charleston Southern 12, Mason 3 (PDF Box Score)
Winning Pitcher: Arizona Pilgrim (2-1) – Losing Pitcher: Bekah Ansbro (1-2)
 
CHARLESTON, S.C. – George Mason Softball resumed play in the Charleston Southern Tournament, beginning with two games Friday afternoon against Hartford and Charleston Southern. Mason finished the day with one victory and one loss, defeating Hartford 13-0 in the morning and losing to Charleston Southern 12-3 in the afternoon.
 
Junior Jess Curbeira was on her A-game in both outings, going a perfect 6-for-6 with four doubles, one triple and five RBI. Six games into the season she now posts a slash line of .526/.550/1.000 with eight of her 10 hits going for extra bases.
 
Junior Marina Vitalich was sharp in game one, finishing with a final line of 5.0 IP. 1 hits, 0 earned runs and 3 strikeouts.

Senior Brooke Sullivan collected two hits and drove in three runs in the Patriots' victory over Hartford while also scoring a run. The three RBI was tied for the team high in the morning contest.

"As good as we were in the first game was as bad as we were in the second," head coach Joe Verbanic said. "I thought we swung the bat okay, we just made it tough on ourselves with out pitching and defense. We just need to bounce back tomorrow."
 
In the morning contest against Hartford, the Patriots set the tone early with three first inning runs to give Vitalich an early lead before she threw a single pitch. Leadoff hitter Alyssa Lawton singled up the middle and stole second to give the Green and Gold a runner in scoring position right away. After Curbeira walked, Sydnee Wells singled Lawton home for the first run of the day, and Sullivan singled Curbeira home immediately after to give the Patriots an early 2-0 lead. The Patriots tacked on one more run in the inning on an error and had a crooked number on the scoreboard after the first half inning of action.
 
Already up 3-0 in the top of the third, Mason opened the floodgates with a six-run inning that began with the Patriots getting three baserunners aboard with one out. With two runs already having crossed the plate, Curbeira hit a three-run triple to blow the game wide open and extend the lead to 9-0.
 
The hit parade continued into the fourth inning and began with a leadoff double from Sydnee Wells. Three batters later the bases were loaded and Marissa Butts picked up her second RBI of the game to bring Mason into double-digits on the scoreboard.
 
Mason registered three more runs for good measure in the top of the fifth, beginning with back-to-back doubles from Curbeira and Liz Seymour to set up Sullivan's two-RBI single. The hit was Sullivan's second and third two-out RBI of the season. Two batters later, Jess Middleton singled down the left field line for her first RBI of the season to put Mason up 13-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth.
 
Up 13-0 and looking to complete a five-inning victory, Vitalich stayed sharp on the mound and recorded a 1-2-3 inning to give Mason the victory. The junior lowered her season ERA to 0.91 and WHIP to 0.70.
 
Five players in the Mason lineup had multi-hit games, including Curbeira who tallied three. It was the Patriots' first win by more than 10 runs since Mar. 17, 2017 vs. Columbia.
 
After the convincing 13-0 victory in the morning, Bekah Ansbro got the ball in game two on Friday and looked to pick up where Vitalich left off. The sophomore faced adversity early after giving up four runs (three earned) in the bottom of the first.
 
The Patriots answered in the next half-inning, scoring three runs to make it a one-run ball game. Curbeira continued her hot-hitting with a two-run single that made the score 4-2, as well as Seymour who posted another RBI the following batter to make it 4-3. With the inning ending reading the aforementioned score, just like that the Patriots were back in the game.
 
However, it didn't last long due to Charleston Southern adding three runs in the second and five in the third. Down 12-3, Haellie Gordon entered the game and slammed the door shut the rest of the way, tossing an inning and a third, allowing just one hit and striking out two throughout the six batters she faced.
 
Sullivan drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth to make a push to extend the game, but the Patriots were retired in order after that, finalizing a 1-1 Friday in their two games of action.
 
NEXT ON THE DIAMOND
 
Mason (3-4) returns to action at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning to face A-10 opponent St. Bonaventure, followed by a rematch against Charleston Southern later that day at 1 p.m.