By Hogan LePore, GoMason.com student sports information writer

Senior seasons are more often than not the most memorable for athletes. For senior outfielder Brooke Sullivan, there have been many reasons to remember the 2018 season.
 
Sullivan currently leads the Patriots in on base percentage (.433), bases on balls (25), and is second on the team in batting average (.303) and total bases (56) this season.
 
This season has been a personal best for the Newville, Pa. native as well, as she has posted career highs in hits (37), home runs (2) and runs batted in (16), while on pace to set personal bests in batting average (.303) and slugging percentage (.459) - all with nine days still to go in the 2018 regular season.
 
The outfielder credits all of these career-highs this season to her steady progression off the field and during the various off seasons throughout her four years here at George Mason.
 
"This year I am definitely in better shape than I have ever been," Sullivan said. "The credit is to John Delgado [Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coordinator]. I made lifestyle changes which I think has definitely helped in my progression as well."


 
Not only has Sullivan been tearing the cover off the ball, but she has also been very patient in the batter's box, leading the team in walks (25) and helping to rank the Patriots second in the Atlantic 10 in bases on balls (140).
 
The outfielder discussed her plate approach this season and how it has been altered because it is her senior season.
 
"The mindset where there's nothing left to worry about is huge," Sullivan stated. "I do not have as much pressure on me as I did when I was a freshman. I have proven myself here and at the end of the day it is just softball. That dynamic has really relaxed me and allowed me to excel at the plate."
 
The pressure aspect of her new plate approach is something she expanded on and how it has kept her even keel in situations where she may have not been so patient in years past.
 
While she remains composed, the outfielder realizes this is her last ride and wants to leave it all out on the field for her team.
 
"I think it's the fact that this is it has really motivated me this season," Sullivan said. "There is nothing after this season, so this is it. This is my last year and I just want to lay it all out there."
 
Being the only senior on the program's roster, the team's senior day game will be a Brooke Sullivan day, essentially, as she will be the lone senior honored.


 
Mason softball's senior day game will come against Dayton on Sunday, April 29 at the Mason Softball Complex.
 
Sullivan talked about how the senior day game will be "special" and she discussed what she will miss most about the team.
 
"I will definitely miss hanging out with my teammates and having a place to go." Sullivan continued, "I go to the field house at noon every day and when I graduate that is obviously something I am not going to do. I am not going to hit off the tee for a half-hour and get front toss from the coaches. So, it is definitely going to be different. I will miss that and I will miss the routine of being with my teammates and just doing things that I have been doing for the past four years."
 
Besides talking about the goodbyes, Sullivan was all business, analyzing the upcoming three-game series with Dayton and explaining what the team must do to end the regular season on the right note.
 
"This series [Dayton] is big for us for sure," Sullivan said. "Dayton is third in the A-10 conference and they're good in all three phases: pitching, hitting and fielding. We are going into this weekend hoping to win two games, preferably all three.  Just playing our game, doing what we have been doing and good things will happen."
 
Being the only senior, Sullivan feels like she must lead by example and she definitely feels she has left an impact on her peers and has paved a way for the young players in the future. The senior hopes her playing style and traits will be remembered once she has graduated.
 
 "I think that I have definitely left a path for underclassmen to work hard and learning that routines are big in this sport, you can see that in everything we do," Sullivan said. "Consistency is big too, doing the things that matter. I would say determination and work ethic is something that I have laid in front of the underclassmen and something I want to be remembered by."