- Fordham sweeps Mason in the series opening doubleheader.
- Patriots get extra base hits from senior Brooke Sullivan and RS-junior Jess Middleton to lead them in the power department.
- Mason wraps up the road trip Sunday afternoon with a single game set for 12 p.m.
GAME ONE FINAL: Fordham 4, Mason 2
Winning Pitcher: Madie Aughinbaugh (10-6) – Losing Pitcher:
Bekah Ansbro (3-8)
GAME TWO FINAL: Fordham 10, Mason 0 (Five Innings)
Winning Pitcher: Paige Rouch (7-1) – Losing Pitcher:
Haellie Gordon (6-8)
NEW YORK – George Mason began its three-game series with Fordham on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader. The Patriots' offense was led by sophomores
Madison Aker and
Alyssa Lawton, each with two hits throughout the day, but the Rams emerged victorious in both games.
Lawton tallied her fifth career multi-hit game for hits number 11 and 12 on the year. The 12 hits sets a new single-season high for her.
Senior
Brooke Sullivan and RS-junior
Jess Middleton led the Patriots with a double each. It was Middleton's second double in her last three outings while Sullivan tied her 2017 RBI total with her 12
th of this season.
"First game was a solid one, we just came up a little short. It's part of that learning to win, especially on the road," head coach
Joe Verbanic said. "Second game was much of the same early but it got away from us in the end. We will bounce back tomorrow."
Game one stayed scoreless through the first three innings. Starting pitcher
Bekah Ansbro worked out of trouble in two of the innings, most notably the bottom of the third when she left two runners on base to get out of a second and third jam unscathed.
Fordham tied the game in the top of the fourth with a solo home run to left. The following inning, the Rams one-upped their previous inning performance by posting two runs in the fifth off back-to-back RBI hits. Ansbro got the next hitter to foul out to the catcher, but the Rams held a 4-1 lead.
Middleton began a mini-rally in the top of the sixth with a leadoff double, pushing her hitting streak to five. SHe later scored on an error to cut the Mason deficit to 4-2, but it was too little, too late as the Rams would keep the Patriots from crossing the plate the rest of the game en route to a 4-2 win.
Mason grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth to break the scoreless tie. After RS-junior
Jess Curbeira reached base on an error, Sullivan slugged a double in the right-center gap to add another RBI to her season total.
In game two the Patriots got hits from sophomore
Sydnee Wells and Lawton. Lawton's hit gives her a base-knock in three of her last five games. The Rams grabbed two runs in the second and one in the fourth to go up 3-0. The Patriots had a runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but were unable to cash in. While Mason would stay within striking distance for four full innings, Fordham posted seven runs in the fifth to end game two there and win it 10-0.
NEXT ON THE DIAMOND
The final game of the road trip is set for Sunday at noon against the Rams. The Patriots will then return home for a midweek matchup against Georgetown that's scheduled for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11.
