Atlantic 10 Release
2023 Atlantic 10 All-Conference List
 
FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason sophomore starter Chad Gartland was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-Conference, the league announced on Wednesday.
 
Sophomore catcher Connor Dykstra was selected First Team All-Conference catcher, graduate student starter Ben Shields was named Second Team All-Conference pitcher and freshman outfielder James Quinn-Irons was selected to the All-Rookie Team.
 
Gartland, a native of Rochester, N.Y., tied for first in the club on wins with a 6-2 record and posted a 3.50 ERA during the regular season.  He ranked first on the team in innings pitched (79.2), was second in strikeouts (72) with only 24 walks and was third on the team in starts (11) and he also notched one save.
 
Gartland started the opening game of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship for the Patriots on Tuesday, May 23 at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.  He threw a season-high 120 pitches over 8.0 strong innings and struck out seven with just one walk in a no-decision.  The sixth-seeded Patriots downed third-seeded Dayton, 5-4 in 11 innings.
 
Among A-10 leaders, Gartland led the league in ERA (3.50), tied for second in wins (6), ranked third in innings pitched (79.2), sixth in strikeouts (72) and finished the regular season with the 10th-fewest walks (24).  He pitched at least 6.0 innings in nine of his 12 starts.
 
Gartland was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 10 after tossing a complete-game shutout to lead the Patriots past Dayton, 11-0 on Saturday, April 8 at Spuhler Field.  It was his first collegiate complete game and shutout.
 
Dykstra, a native of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, started all 49 games that he played with a .298 batting average during the regular season.  He led the team in home runs (8) and doubles (15), was second in RBI (37), tied for fourth in runs scored (36) and was fifth in hits (48).
 
Nationally, Dykstra tied for third in the nation in hit by pitch (26).  Among A-10 leaders, he ranked second in hit by pitch (26), tied for the eighth-most home runs in the league (8), was 11th in doubles (15) and finished 30th in RBI (37).    
 
Dykstra went 14-for-17 on stolen base attempts during the season.  He recorded 12 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games.
 
Shields, from Boston, Mass., led the team in starts (14) and strikeouts (93), tied for first in wins (6) and ranked second in innings pitched (66.1) during the regular season.  His 93 strikeouts tied for 33rd in the NCAA.
 
Among A-10 leaders, Shields tied for first in starts (14), ranked second in strikeouts (93), tied for second in wins (6) and was 10th in innings pitched (66.1).  He walked just 30 batters, tied for the 10th-fewest in the league.
 
Shields was named Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 3.  He struck out a career-high 14 batters with just one walk over 7.0 strong innings in the Patriots' 7-6 victory at Rhode Island on Friday, March 31.  Shields pitched at least 5.0 innings in 10 of his 14 starts. 
 
Quinn-Irons, from Reston, Va., finished the regular season with a .380 average and ranked third on the club in hits (52), home runs (4) and runs scored (37) and was fourth in RBI (32).
 
Among A-10 leaders, Quinn-Irons ranked 39th in runs scored (37) and was 41st in hits (52).  He recorded a season-high nine-game hitting streak March 11-24. 
 
Quinn-Irons was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the week ending May 8 after going 8-for-17 with five RBI and five runs scored.  He posted 18 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games during the season.