#4 GEORGE MASON (33-21, 16-10 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE) vs #2 LOYOLA CHICAGO (25-21, 18-6 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE)
BRACKET: Click Here
WHEN: Fri., May 12 @ Noon
WHERE: Bronx, N.Y. | Bahoshy Field (Fordham)
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HISTORY: This season: Patriots won the series against the Ramblers, winning two of three on March 18-19

A-10 TOURNAMENT SEEDING AND SCHEDULE
The rest of the seeding for this year's tournament is the following:

• No. 1: Saint Louis (29-24, 20-5 A-10)
• No. 2: Loyola Chicago (25-21, 18-6 A-10)
• No. 3: Dayton (35-19, 15-7 A-10)
• No. 4: George Mason (33-21, 16-10 A-10)
• No. 5: Fordham (20-28, 11-10 A-10) - ELIMINATED, MAY 10
• No. 6: Rhode Island (23-31-1, 12-13 A-10) - ELIMINATED, MAY 11

The Tournament schedule is the following:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10

• Game 1: #4 George Mason def. #5 Fordham, 1-0
• Game 2: #3 Dayton def. #6 Rhode Island, 4-1
• Game 3: #6 Rhode Island def. #5 Fordham (ELIMINATED), 9-6

THURSDAY, MAY 11

• Game 4: #4 George Mason def. #1 Saint Louis, 5-2
• Game 5: #2 Loyola Chicago def. # 3 Dayton, 7-1
• Game 6: #3 Dayton def. #6 Rhode Island (ELIMINATED), 6-0

FRIDAY, MAY 12

• Game 7: #2 Loyola Chicago vs. #4 George Mason, Noon
• Game 8: #1 Saint Louis vs. #3 Dayton, 2:30 pm.
• Game 9: Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 7, 5:00 p.m.

SATURDAY, MAY 13

• Game 10: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9, Noon
• Game 11: If Necessary

The rest of the A-10 Softball Championship Tournament schedule can be viewed here.

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Bronx, N.Y. – The #4 George Mason softball team (32-21, 16-10 A-10) will face #2 Loyola Chicago (25-21, 18-6 A-10) in the A-10 Championship semifinal on Friday, May 12 at noon at Bahoshy Field in Fordham. The Patriots won their quarterfinal game in this week's A-10 Championship on Thursday, defeating the top-seeded Saint Louis Billikens by the score of 5-2-0. Mason is heading to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2015, when they defeated top-seeded Dayton.

The last time Mason competed in the A-10 Tournament was in 2018. The 2018 Patriots (22-28, 12-11 A-10) were seeded No. 4. in the Tournament and suffered a first day exit, losing to #5 Saint Louis 5-2, followed by another loss to #3 Dayton 4-2. Before this season's 16 conference wins, 2018's team had recorded the most conference wins in program history with 12.

In their last meeting, the Patriots won two of three against the Ramblers, securing their first of seven conference series wins of the season. The Patriots and Ramblers split the Saturday doubleheader, while Mason won the Sunday finale in a 2-1 pitchers' duel between Aly Rayle and Loyola's Peyton Pepkowski.

CONFERENCE LEADERS (SLASH LINES/STATS ARE FROM THE REGULAR SEASON AND DO NOT REFLECT PLAYOFF GAMES)
In the Atlantic 10, the Patriots were first in overall regular season stats in the following:

• Fielding (.976), doubles (81) and triples (18).
• Individually, senior Haley Taormina (.350 / .417 / .611) led the conference in doubles (19). She was also second in RBI (43). Nicole Bechtel (.352 / .429 / .535) was third (38).
• Rookie Elyssa DeRosa (.347 / .472 / .592) led the conference in the triples category (7). Marlaina Bozek (.346 / .431 / .488) was seventh (3).
• Senior shortstop Rachel Warrens (.301 / .384 / .458) led the conference in stolen bases with 31.
• Graduate pitcher Aly Rayle (15-8, 2.20 ERA, 1 SV) led the conference in overall strikeouts (203) and looking strikeouts (59). She was second in wins (15) and third in ERA (2.20)
• Three Patriots made up the top ten best batting averages in the conference: Haley Taormina, Elyssa DeRosa, and Nicole Bechtel 
• The Patriots were second in pitching ERA (2.80) and third in batting average (.285).

NATIONAL LEADERS
Nationally, the Patriots as a team are ranked sixth in stolen bases per game (2.55). Individually, third baseman Haley Taormina leads in the nation in doubles (19) and is third in doubles per game (0.39). Left fielder Elyssa DeRosa, on the other hand, is third in the nation in triples (7) and is third in triples per game (0.18).

A LOOK AT THE PATRIOTS
The 2023 Patriots finished their season with 31 total wins. This is the first time the Patriots had 30 wins since the 2003 season. The Patriots this season also set a new record for most conference wins in a season with 16. Other notable records broken this year were the following:

• Home Runs - 23 (Old record: 22 in 2015)
• Doubles - 81 (Old record: 79 in 2002)
• Stolen Bases - 131 (Old record: 96 in 2004 & 1995)
• Walks - 176 (Old record: 159 in 1995)
• Fielding Percentage - .976 (Old record: .964 in 2021)

CONFERENCE END OF SEASON AWARDS
Two hours before the start of the tournament, the Atlantic 10 announced this year's postseason awards. The conference named four George Mason players over three categories. The winners were the following:

• Pitcher of the Year: Aly Rayle
• First Team All-Conference
  • Marlaina Bozek, second base
  • Nicole Bechtel, catcher
  • Aly Rayle, pitcher
• Second Team All-Conference
  • Haley Taormina, third base

In program history, Mason now has two Pitcher of the Year awards, seven First Team All-Conference awards and 11 Second Team All-Conference awards.

THURSDAY QUARTERFINAL GAME RECAP: #4 MASON 5, #1 SAINT LOUIS 2
A combination of solid Mason hitting, Billiken fielding errors and a stifling Mason defense played a part in the Patriots' wire-to-wire victory in Wednesday's quarterfinal game. 

The Patriots first scored in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and a full count, Haley Taormina stepped up to the plate and hit a booming solo home run over the left field wall, giving the Patriots an early 1-0 lead.  

Haley Taormina would provide the Patriots with another RBI in the top of the third inning, this time in the shape of an RBI double. With two outs, center fielder Alena Ball (1-4, 1 R) hit an infeld single to second, which gave a chance for Taormina to capitalize on the opportunity. This time on a 1-0 count, the NCAA and conference leader in doubles plugged the gap in right center, scoring Alena Ball all the way from first. At the end of three, the Patriots were up 2-0.

The Patriots added three more runs in the top of the fourth. Rachel Warrens led off with a single to left center, followed by a Maddy Myers (1-3) infield single to short. Logan Pickford (1R) would later pinch run for Myers at first. After a productive out by Jordan Anderson (0-3) advanced both Patriots to scoring position, Sydney Blackwell put the ball in play with an inside out swing and reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Rachel Warrens. Logan Pickford would also score, as the Billiken second baseman committed a throwing error. This allowed Blackwell to advance to second. Later in the inning, Marlaina Bozek (1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI) hit a double through the left side, scoring Blackwell. The Patriots were up 5-0 against the #1 seed Billikens.

The Billikens would get two runs in the bottom of the fifth by way of three doubles, but the Patriot defense locked down and prevented any more runs from coming in. Mason forced Saint Louis to go 1-2-3 in the final two innings of the game and secured a spot in the Tournament semifinals.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
#2 Loyola Chicago defeated the #3 Dayton Flyers in what was their first appearance in an A-10 Tournament. The Ramblers secured a decisive 7-1 victory and are now the highest seeded team in the winners bracket, following Saint Louis' loss to Mason earlier in the day.

In their first year in the Atlantic 10, Loyola earned several postseason awards. The winners were the following:

• First Team All-Conference
  • Madison Ebeling, shortstop
• Second Team All-Conference
  • Amelia Thomas, first base
  • Peyton Pepkowski, pitcher
• All-Rookie
  • Sierra Sass
• All-Academic
  • Amelia Thomas

First Team All-Conference Madison Ebeling (.308 / .376 / .459) was a two-time Player of the Week led the team in at-bats (133), runs (29) and home runs (3) and stolen bases (17). The graduate infielder is also one of the toughest batters to strike out. According to the NCAA, she is ranked 54^th in that statistical category.

Secord Team All-Conference first baseman Amelia Thomas (.321 / .420 / .489) leads the team in batting average (.321), OPS (.909), hits (42), doubles (10), triples (3), total bags (64), on base percentage (.420) and slugging percentage (.489) .

Three Ramblers recorded 20 or more RBI this season. Ebeling had 20, while junior infielder Sydney Barnett (.304 / .393 / .435) and senior sophomore infielder Haley Wallace (.295 / .379 / .426) are both tied for the lead with 27. Those three also make up seven of Loyola's ten homers on the season.

Wallace, Ebeling and Thomas have the most hits on the team, recording 36, 41, and 42 on the season, respectively.

On the pitching side, Second Team All-Conference pitcher Peyton Pepkowski (14-10, 2.41 ERA) has seen the most action. The sophomore has pitched 156.2 innings this season and leads the team in strikeouts with 165. For comparison, the rest of the Loyola pitching staff has recorded only 52 strikeouts on the year.

Their second-most used pitcher, Andie Broniewicz (8-8, 2.49 ERA), has 107 innings pitched and 43 strikeouts. Rounding out the pitching rotation is Bailey Johnson (2-3, 3.82 ERA), who has pitched only 40.1 innings and has 9 strikeouts.

TEAM STAT COMPARISONS, (PLAYOFF GAMES INCLUDED): Mason (54 games played) | Loyola Chicago (46 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .281 | .284
OBP: .361 | .338
SLG: .420 | .345
R: 247 | 181
H: 393 | 315
2B: 83 | 55
3B: 18 | 6
HR: 25 | 10
RBI: 213 | 150

PITCHING
ERA: 2.73 | 2.63
SO: 332 | 217
R: 172 | 156
ER: 144 | 114
H: 327 | 290
2B: 64 | 63
3B: 13 | 17
HR: 26 | 17