Patriot Points

• Mason wraps up home stand with the Cherry Blossom Classic by welcoming Siena College and Cornell to the George Mason Softball Complex.
• The Patriots offense was led by RS-junior Liz Seymour, who went 5-for-10 with four RBI throughout the Patriots' three games last weekend.
• Freshman Haellie Gordon statistically checks in as Mason's best pitcher, leading the A-10 with a 1.18 ERA and has registered two consecutive complete game victories.

 THIS WEEK OF ACTION
 
Saturday, Mar. 10 – vs. Siena College (George Mason Softball Complex), 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 10 – vs. Cornell (George Mason Softball Complex), 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 11 – vs. Cornell (George Mason Softball Complex), 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 11 – vs. Siena College (George Mason Softball Complex), 2:30 p.m.
 
The George Mason Softball team (5-7) hosts its second weekend showcase of the regular season with the Cherry Blossom Classic, taking place at the George Mason Softball Complex. Due up for the Patriots in the second weekend of home games is Siena College (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.), Cornell (Saturday, 4:00 p.m.), Cornell (Sunday, 12:30 p.m.) and Siena again to wrap things up (Sunday, 2:30 p.m.). All matchups are subject to change and game times occur approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of its predecessor.
 
The Patriots have hosted the Cherry Blossom Classic every season dating back to 2011. Cornell has been a participant the last two seasons and four times total – including the inaugural 2011 showcase. 2018 will be the first time Siena College will make the trip to Fairfax for the Cherry Blossom Classic.

Historically, Mason checks in with winning records against both their weekend opponents – 17-15 vs. Cornell and 4-2 against Siena College. The Patriots beat the Big Red 5-3 in their lone matchup last season behind a complete game victory from Marina Vitalich and a two-hit performance from Jess Middleton.
 
Junior Jess Curbeira remains at the top of the Atlantic 10 in batting average (.485) and doubles (8). Her .550 on-base percentage ranks second in the conference while her 1.429 OPS sits atop the team lead.
 
Nationally, Curbeira ranks 10^th in doubles with her doubles per game average (0.67) placing her second in the country. The Henrico, Va. native's .879 slugging percentage ranks 22^nd in the nation and is one of 30 Division I players to slug .850 or above. Other notable Patriots in the national rankings include freshman pitcher Haellie Gordon ranking 10^th in walks per game with 0.59. Gordon has only walked two batters in her 23.2 innings of work, one of five players in the A-10 to surrender five or fewer (Min. 20 IP).
 
RS-junior Liz Seymour led the Patriots' offense with five hits and only needed 10 at-bats to do so. Seymour is now hitting .361, good for seventh in the Atlantic 10, and is now up to second on the team in hits. Seymour hit behind senior Brooke Sullivan in all three Patriot Classic games, resulting in Sullivan getting lots of good pitches to hit. The right fielder tied her season high with two doubles and two extra base hits in the win over Monmouth, and went 3-for-8 between Mason's two Sunday games.
 
Sophomore Sydnee Wells made two starts behind the plate and went 2-for-3 in the win against Monmouth. One of Wells' hits went for extra bases and her weekend outings increased her batting average to .310 and OPS to .838. With Wells' batting average back over .300, she joins Curbeira, Sullivan and Seymour as the four Patriots to be batting over the .300 clip.
 
Among Mason's three starting pitchers from the previous weekend, Gordon was the most effective by tossing a complete game victory against Monmouth. The performance was Gordon's second straight complete game victory. Against Monmouth, Gordon lowered her ERA to 1.18 and now leads the A-10 in that department while also ranking second in walks per seven (0.59).
 
As a team the Patriots rank first in the A-10 in walks allowed (15) and third in team ERA. Offensively, Mason boasts the third best team on-base percentage at .353, helped by its 15 walks drawn between the two Syracuse games (March 3-4), including a season-high eight walks in the March 4 matchup. The Patriots still rank first in the conference in doubles per game with its 20 over the course of 12 games.