GEORGE MASON (27-15, 13-4 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE) @ DAYTON (28-13, 12-2 ATLANTIC-10 CONFERENCE)
WHEN: Sat.-Sun., April 22-23; Saturday Noon & 2:30 p.m. and Sunday @ Noon
WHERE: Dayton, Ohio | UD Softball Stadium
WATCH: Game One | Game Two | Game Three
LIVESTATS: Click Here
HISTORY: Dayton leads the all-time series 15-10; last meeting was April 2-3, 2022 (Dayton won two of three).
DAYTON, Ohio – The two top-ranked Atlantic-10 teams will play against each other this weekend, as the George Mason softball team (27-15, 13-4 A-10) will travel to Dayton to face off against the Flyers (28-13, 12-2 A-10) in a pivotal three-game series at the UD Softball Stadium. Both teams are coming in with the two longest winning streaks in the conference; Mason is currently on a seven-game win streak, while Dayton is on a nine-game streak.
In the Atlantic 10 conference, Mason has the most conference wins with 13, which is now a school record. The previous record of 12 was set twice in 2017 & 2018. Dayton currently has the most overall wins in the conference with 28, after sweeping their midweek matchup at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
Mason's 13-4 Atlantic 10 Conference record currently puts them in second place; Saint Louis (20-22, 12-4) is in third place, while Dayton (28-13, 12-2) still holds the top spot in the conference.
CONFERENCE LEADERS
In the Atlantic 10, the Patriots are first in the following:
- Fielding (.972), doubles (62) and triples (16).
- Individually, senior Haley Taormina (.354 / .422 / .614) leads the conference in doubles (16). She is also second in RBI (38), just four shy of sharing the lead with Abby Mallo of Saint Louis. Rookie Elyssa DeRosa (.362 / .488 / .617) is first in the triples category (7). Senior shortstop Rachel Warrens (.296 / .362 / .448) is second in the conference in stolen bases with 24. Emma Schutter of Dayton currently has the lead with 26.
- The Patriots are third in both pitching ERA (2.84) and batting (.285).
NATIONAL LEADERS
Nationally, the Patriots as a team are ranked fourth in stolen bases per game (2.83). Individually, left fielder Elyssa DeRosa is third in the nation in triples (7) and is fourth in triples per game (0.18). Third baseman Haley Taormina, on the other hand, is third in the nation in doubles (16).
A LOOK AT THE PATRIOTS
The Patriots have won both their seventh consecutive game and sixth consecutive conference series of the season by sweeping Saint Joseph's in their last weekend series.
Starting pitcher Aly Rayle (13-5, 2.09 ERA, 1 SV) won her fourth A-10 Pitcher of the Week award for going 3-0 last week, posting a 0.00 ERA and striking out 26 batters on 22 innings pitched. Rayle has 157 strikeouts on the season, making her the third Patriot ever to record more than 150 strikeouts in a single season.
Haley Taormina led the team last weekend in hits (5), average (5-9, .556) and RBI (2). In Game One of the weekend series against Saint Joseph's the senior third baseman collected her 100th career hit. The next day, junior second baseman Marlaina Bozek (.365 / .451 / .531) hit her 100th career hit as well.
In Sunday's second game of the doubleheader, starting pitcher Carly Cooper (4-4, 3.14 ERA, 1 SV) pitched her best game of the season. The junior gave up only one run and pitched her first complete game win of the season, beating Saint Joseph's 3-1.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Flyers of Dayton are currently on a nine-game winning streak, with their last loss being on April 7. Since April 12, they have swept St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island and IUPUI. In that seven-game stretch, they have outscored their opponents 68-17.
The Flyers have a record of 12-2 in the A-10, and they are currently first in conference standings.
Senior outfielder Emily Daniel (.374 / .417 / .421) was this week's Atlantic-10 Player of the Week. Helping the Flyers go 5-0 last week, she had a .769 average with a .800 on-base percentage and a .923 slugging percentage to go along a total of nine runs scored and three multi-hit games.
Sophomore outfielder Emma Schutter (.457 / .490 / .529) leads the team in hits (63), average (.457), runs (34) and stolen bases with 26. Emily Daniel is not far behind in steals either with 23.
Graduate infielder Alyssa Cacini (.331 / .381 / .512) leads the team in RBI with 29. Senior infielder Kaelene Walter (.238 / .301 / .396) is not far behind with 27. Sophomore infielder Maddie Kapsimalis (.420 / .495 / .648) leads the Flyers in doubles with 11.
Two other Flyers have 20+ RBI totals this season. Senior catcher Nicolette Papavasiliou (.316 / .362 / .439) has 24 RBI, and junior infielder Taylor Erschen (.266 / .319 / .422) has 22 RBI.
On the pitching side, freshman Izzy Kemp (10-5, 1.32 ERA, 4 SV) is a three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week winner. She has seen the most action, pitching 105.2 innings and leads the team in strikeouts (142) and saves (4).
Sophomore Dwyer Haven (12-3, 2.59 ERA, 3 SV) has seen the second most action this season, pitching 86.1 innings and striking out 39 batters. She has the most wins in the Flyers' pitching staff with 12.
There are two other pitchers that have pitched 30+ innings in Dayton's staff. Graduate student Kallie Jones (4-3, 3.25 ERA,) has pitched 36.2 innings, recorded 27 strikeouts, while senior Sarah Bailitz (1-2, 5.53 ERA, 2 SV) has pitched 31.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and two saves.
TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (42 games played) | Dayton (41 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .286 | .318
OBP: .373 | .374
SLG: .413 | .438
R: 197 | 218
H: 306 | 351
2B: 62 | 58
3B: 16 | 9
HR: 14 | 19
RBI: 167 | 190
PITCHING
ERA: 2.66 | 2.63
SO: 249 | 227
R: 128 | 144
ER: 108 | 100
H: 249 | 223
2B: 44 | 38
3B: 11 | 10
HR: 17 | 12
HISTORY WITH THE FLYERS
Dating back to 2014, Dayton leads the all-time series 15-10. The last time these two schools met was last season on April 2-3, 2022, when Dayton won two of three. Dayton's two wins were shutouts while Mason's win was a 15-7 in Game 2.
UP NEXT
The Patriots will come back home to play Georgetown in a single Wednesday game. They will then travel to Saint Louis to face off against the Billikens in a three-game weekend series. Saint Louis is currently third in A-10 standings.
