Patriot Points
- George Mason heads to Charlottesville for some midweek action against the University of Virginia. The two faced off in the Madeira Beach Showcase earlier this year, and the Patriots are 3-2 against the Cavaliers in the last five matchups.
- RS-freshman Adriana Erickson enjoyed a breakout series by blasting two home runs and collecting four hits.
- Head coach Joe Verbanic has rolled with the combo of Sophomore Bekah Ansbro and freshman Haellie Gordon as his primary pitchers. In the Rhode Island series, Gordon picked up her team-leading sixth win and Ansbro earned her team-leading second save.
MATCHUP DETAILS
Wednesday, March 28 – at University of Virginia ("The Park"), 6:00 p.m.
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason Softball team (10-15) will take a brief break from conference play and travel approximately 100 miles south to take on the Virginia Cavaliers. The contest will be one single game that is set to begin at 6 p.m. at "The Park" on the campus of UVA.
The two teams already met this year in the Madeira Beach Showcase, with the Cavaliers emerging victorious with a slim 2-1 win. Ansbro pitched a complete game and struck out four, all while the Patriots out-hit Virginia 5-3.
Erickson led the Patriots' in the power department, slugging 1.100 and posting an OPS of 1.600 in her 12 plate appearances against Rhode Island. The Woodgrove, Va. native homered in back-to-back games (both solo) to become the first Patriot this season to go deep in two consecutive contests. In game two on Saturday, Erickson also roped a double to increase her total base count to six in the game, which is currently her season high.
Senior
Brooke Sullivan snagged three hits in the Rhode Island series, two of which came in game two on Saturday. Her double in Sunday's game was her ninth of the season, setting a new single-season career high. Other career highs Sullivan is nearing includes runs, hits and RBI – needing two, nine and four to set new career marks.
Sophomore
Madison Aker recorded the highest Patriots' batting average over the weekend by going 4-for-9 (.444 average) with two multi-hit games to close out the series. It was the ninth and 10
th time Aker has recorded two hits in a game, and also reached base on a hit by pitch Sunday to set a season high for reaching base three times in a game. Aker also stole two bases on Sunday, setting a new career high.
Sophomore
Sydnee Wells clubbed her first career grand slam in the Patriots' 5-2 win over the Rams. The grand slam goes in as Wells' seventh career home run to put her in a four-way tie for 10
th all-time. Her next home run will give her sole possession of 10
th on the list, and two more roundtrippers will put her in a four-way tie for seventh all-time.
The Green and Gold stole five bases to set a new season high for a particular weekend. Leading the aggressive base running was Aker with two swiped bags, complimented by Wells,
Liz Seymour and
Alyssa Lawton adding one to their resumes. The stolen bases were Wells' and Seymour's second of the season while Lawton increased her team-lead to six. The four stolen bags against URI was the highest by Mason in a game this season.
Patriots cracking the top-10 in individual Atlantic 10 statistical categories include:
Brooke Sullivan – 6th in on-base percentage (.467);
Brooke Sullivan – 10
th in doubles (8);
Brooke Sullivan – 2
nd in walks (17);
Jess Curbeira – T-5
th in doubles (9);
Liz Seymour – T-9 in hits (27);
Alyssa Lawton – T-5 in stolen bases (6);
Haellie Gordon – T-4 in wins (6);
Haellie Gordon – 8
th in innings pitched (63.1);
Bekah Ansbro – T-1 in saves (2);
Marina Vitalich – 5
th in ERA (2.37).
George Mason has done a good job avoiding strikeouts, second only to St. Bonaventure for the fewest team strikeouts in the conference. As a result of another successful weekend in the strikeout department, the team's 2.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio remains first in the conference and has improved to 31
st nationally.
Individual Leaders
