HARRISONBURG, Va. – The George Mason softball team (15-10, 2-1 A-10) lost both games to James Madison (17-7, 2-1 Sun Belt) in Wednesday's midweek doubleheader. The Patriots lost the first game by the score of 5-9 and lost the second game 4-5 in extra innings.
MASON BY THE NUMBERS
- Three Patriots hit a home run in Wednesday's double header. Maddy Myers hit her first home run of her college career in Game One, while Haley Taormina hit her fifth and Rachel Warrens hit her second in Game Two.
- Freshman Elyssa DeRosa led freshmen in hitting average, and RBI, going 2-for-5 (.400) with one double and two RBI.
- Starting pitcher Aly Rayle led the pitching staff in strikeouts, contributing five of the nine total strikeouts on the day.
GAME ONE: MASON (15-9) vs. JAMES MADISON (16-7)
In Game One, the Dukes scored first. In the bottom of the first inning, after starting pitcher
Aly Rayle (4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO) retired the first two batters, sophomore infielder Jasmine Hall drew a walk. The next batter, graduate student infielder Hannah Shifflett, hit a triple to right field, scoring Hall from first. Rayle would strike out the next batter to limit the early damage.
The Patriots would take the lead in the top of the third inning, putting up three runs. Sophomore center fielder
Charlotte Montgomery (1-3, 1 R) started the inning with a single to right field, followed by a
Marlaina Bozek (1-3, 1 BB) walk.
Haley Taormina (1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) drove in Mason's first run after James Madison's third baseman made a fielding error, scoring Montgomery and moving Bozek to third. Bozek later scored after Taormina stole second and forced the James Madison catcher to make an errant throw to second. The third run of the inning would be an RBI single down the left field line hit by redshirt junior catcher
Nicole Bechtel (1-3, 1 RBI).
The Patriot lead would not last long, as in the bottom of the frame, Jasmine Hall hit the Dukes' second triple of the game, scoring Kylee Gleason. Hall would later score on a passed ball, leveling the game.
The score would remain 3-3 until the bottom of the fifth, when Hallie Hall hit a solo home run to left field off reliever
Alexandra Anderson. The bases would be loaded with only one out later in the inning, but Anderson and the Patriot defense were able to get out of the jam with two ground ball outs.
The Patriots answered right back in the top of the sixth inning. After sophomore right fielder
Sydney Blackwell (0-3,1 R) reached base on an error, senior
Maddy Myers (1-2, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 1 BB) hit her first career home run. The two-run shot gave the Patriots a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Unfortunately, the Dukes not only tied the game with a Jasmine Hall RBI single, but they also loaded the bases and later hit a grand slam. Freshman infielder KK Mathis' homerun broke the game wide open, and, after their five-run inning, the Dukes retired the Patriot side in order in the top of the seventh inning to finish Game One.
GAME TWO: MASON (15-10) vs. JAMES MADISON (17-7)
In Game Two, the Dukes would take the lead twice, only for the Patriots to tie the game twice as well. It would take one extra inning for James Madison to walk off with their second win of the day.
In the top of the fourth inning, with Mason down 0-1, senior third baseman
Haley Taormina (1-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 1 BB) hit a solo home run to tie the game. That would be Taormina's fifth home run of the season Senior shortstop
Rachel Warrens (2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 SB) hit her second home run of the season right after Taormina's shot. That was the first time this season the Patriots hit back-to-back home runs.
The Dukes would score one run in the fourth and fifth innings, doubling their lead over the Patriots.
In the top of the sixth inning, after Taormina and Warrens drew walks, left fielder
Elyssa DeRosa hit a bases-clearing double to left center, Her two-run RBI double knotted the game once again at 4-4.
The score would remain the same and would require extra innings for only the second time in the Patriots' season. In the top of the eighth,
Rachel Warrens hit a double to left center and would later steal third base. However, the Patriots would not be able to convert, stranding Warrens at third.
James Madison walked off the Patriots in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on first and second, KK Mathis hit a double to left field, scoring the winning run from second.
UP NEXT
The Patriots will return home this weekend, as they will continue A-10 action and host Rhode Island in a three-game series. Saturday will feature a doubleheader starting at noon, while Sunday's finale will start at 10 a.m.
