• George Mason sweeps La Salle to improve to 8-8 in A-10 play.
• RS-freshmen Adriana Erickson and Miah Wilson go deep to power the offense, with Wilson's home run being the first of her career.
• Patriots extend their winning streak to three against La Salle dating back to last year.

 
GAME ONE FINAL: George Mason 7, La Salle 1
Winning Pitcher: Bekah Ansbro (8-8) – Losing Pitcher: Reilly Gearhart (7-8)
 
GAME TWO FINAL: George Mason 5, La Salle 1
Winning Pitcher: Haellie Gordon (8-10) – Losing Pitcher: Marlo Roadcap (3-12)
 
PHILADELPHIA – George Mason began its five-game road stretch on the right note with a doubleheader sweep over the La Salle Explorers. The Patriots got good pitching (two runs surrendered all day), good fielding (no errors in game one) and timely hitting with two home runs - one in each game.
 
Sophomore Bekah Ansbro delivered another phenomenal outing by pitching all seven innings and posting another nine-strikeout game to tie her career high. Freshman Haellie Gordon also turned in a complete game effort to hold off the Explorers in game two, with her notable statistic in the circle featuring just four hits allowed.
 
RS-freshman Adriana Erickson went deep in game one for her fourth of the season to capture the team lead. RS-freshman Miah Wilson also homered in game two for her first collegiate roundtripper. The Patriots have had at least one home run in seven of the last eight games.

"Today was one of those days we have been talking about, putting it all together tonight. The pitching was very good today with Bekah and Hallie both doing a good job of hitting spots and changing speeds," head coach Joe Verbanic said. "Our defense was solid all day long in support of them and kept La Salle in check. Last but not least, the offense had strong, consistent at-bats throughout the lineup all day. We got people on and found ways to get them in adding to our leads both games. Two great wins and very solidly played games."
 
Madison Aker began the game by roping a double to left field. After Alyssa Lawton advanced her to third with a single, Liz Seymour drove the leadoff slap-hitter in with an RBI groundout to put George Mason on top 1-0 right away.
 
La Salle tied it up at 1-1 in its half of the first inning, but the Patriots took the aggressive base running to another level in the top of the third in a runners on the corners situation. Seymour stole second and Aker advanced home on the throw, extending the lead to 2-1.
 
George Mason continued the pattern of scoring one run in the odd innings with an RBI double by Jess Middleton. Her double marked a stretch of hitting safely in four of her last five games. The relentless offense didn't slow down and kept the pressure on in the top of the sixth by drawing two walks with two outs. Aker singled to center field to capitalize on the two-out rally, and ultimately put the Patriots ahead 4-1.
 
The lead was extended even further with a big seventh inning, beginning with an Erickson two-run home run. The four-bagger was her fourth of the season and she's now up to nine extra-base hits on the year. Freshman Marissa Butts added the cherry on top with an RBI single to the left side to bring home sophomore Sydnee Wells and put the Patriots up 7-1.
 
Now with plenty of run support, Ansbro struck out the side to finalize the game one victory. The three whiffs pushed her total to nine on the day and finalized the second outing this season for the sophomore with nine strikeouts.
 
The Patriots didn't wait long in game two to hang a crooked number as Wilson got the scoring started with a two-run home run to put her team up 2-0. The hit also went down as Wilson's fist extra-base hit with the Green and Gold.
 
La Salle cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the second, but that would be all they'd get off game two starter Haellie Gordon, who had a complete game effort in the win and struck out three with just four hits surrendered.
 
Wilson was in the middle of another run producing play in the fourth due to a fielding error by the Explorers, allowing Middleton to score and extend the lead to 3-1. The Patriots weren't done and enjoyed more offensive production in the sixth. They had the bases loaded twice with the damage coming in unconventional ways. Jess Curbeira grounded out but drove home Brooke Sullivan, followed by Wilson scoring on a passed ball to extend the lead to 5-1.
 
Gordon had a perfect 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth and faced the minimum in the seventh by drawing a double-play to close out the game. The win improved Gordon to 8-10 on the year and tied her with Ansbro for the team lead.
 
NEXT ON THE DIAMOND
 
The Patriots will get right back to work on Sunday afternoon with the series finale against the Explorers. The two teams will play one game that is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m.