GEORGE MASON (29-20, 14-9 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE) vs MASSACHUSETTS (15-32, 6-16 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE)
GAME PROGRAM: Click Here
WHEN: Fri.-Sat., May 5-6; Fri.: 3 & 5:30 p.m., Sat: Noon
WHERE: Fairfax, Va. | GMU Softball Complex
WATCH: Game One | Game Two | Game Three
LIVESTATS: Click Here
HISTORY: UMass leads the all-time series 8-2; last meeting was April 10-11, 2022 (Mason won one of three games).

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason softball team (29-20, 14-9 A-10) will host the the UMass Minutewomen (15-32, 6-16 A-10) in a three-game season finale at the George Mason Softball Complex on Fri.-Sat., May 5-6. Friday's game will feature a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m., while Saturday's game will start at noon. Saturday will also be Mason's Senior Day, Alumni Day and Bark at the Park, where fans are encouraged to bring their furry friends to the game.

There will be four Patriot seniors that will be honored on Saturday's Senior Day. They are Desi Hatzakos, Aly Rayle, Nicole Bechtel and Haley Taormina. Mason will recognize UMass' seniors as well, and they are Jessie DiPasquale, Jules Shields, Abby Lamson and Emily Whelan.

In the Atlantic 10 conference, Mason has 14 conference wins, which is now a school record. The previous record of 12 was set twice in 2017 & 2018. Saint Louis currently has the most conference wins with 18.

Mason's 14-9 Atlantic 10 Conference record currently puts them in fourth place; Loyola Chicago (21-21, 15-6) is in third, Dayton (33-15, 15-4) is in second place, and Saint Louis (27-22, 14-4) still holds the top spot in the conference.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
In the Atlantic 10, the Patriots are first in the following:

• Fielding (.974), doubles (75) and triples (17).
• Individually, senior Haley Taormina (.349 / .417 / .605) leads the conference in doubles (19). She is also second in RBI (40). Nicole Bechtel (.351 / .434 / .550) is third 37. Rookie Elyssa DeRosa (.347 / .472 / .592) is first in the triples category (7). Senior shortstop Rachel Warrens (.294 / .380 / .448) is tied for second in the conference in stolen bases with 28. Emma Schutter of Dayton currently has the lead with 29.
• Four Patriots make up the top ten best batting averages in the conference: Haley Taormina, Elyssa DeRosa, Nicole Bechtel and Marlaina Bozek (.345 / .426 / .487).
• The Patriots are second in pitching ERA (2.86) and third in batting average (.284).

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 Patriots suffered their first series sweep last weekend at Saint Louis. The Patriots were walked-off in all three weekend games. The first game was a ten-inning marathon that saw the Billikens win off a sacrifice fly, the second game was won off a Billiken RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning and the third game the game was called by Run Rule Victory after the Billikens gained an eight-run lead over the Patriots in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Catcher Nicole Bechtel lead the team with two RBI on the weekend. The Harrisburg, Pa., native has now recorded an RBI in six of her last seven games.

Freshman Alena Ball (.311 / .425 / .311) had the best average on the team over the weekend. The Atlanta, Ga., native went 3-for-5 and batted .600. First baseman Maddy Myers (.231 / .293 / .343) had the second highest, going 3-for-8 with a .375 average.

Jordan Anderson (.273 / .319 / .591) hit the team's only home run in the series in Game One. The Alliance, Ohio, native now has four on the season and has the second most on the team. Haley Taormina has the most with six.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Minutewomen of Massachusetts have lost nine of their last ten games and are currently on a three-game losing streak. In that stretch, they have been swept by A-10 foes Fordham (17-26, 8-10) & Rhode Island (21-27-1, 11-11 A-10) and lost two of three to George Washington (17-25, 7-16).

The Minutewomen have an A-10 record of 6-16 and are currently ninth in conference standings.

Junior outfielder Chloe Whittier (.329 / .439 / .436) leads the team in average (.329) and shares a three-way tie in home runs (2). The other two tied for the lead are senior outfielder Jules Shields (.323 / .396 / .468), who has the second highest batting average, and junior infielder Bella Pantoja (.308 / .329 / .429), who leads the team in RBI (24). Shields is the only other Minutewoman to have 20+ RBI with 21, and Whittier has the third most with 19.

On the pitching side, both Julianne Bolton (3-11, 4.38 ERA) and Jessie DiPasquale (4-9, 4.44 ERA) have seen the most work. Bolton has appeared in 25 games, started in 16 and pitched 102.1 innings, while DiPasquale has appeared in 21 games, started in 15 and pitched 94.2 innings. Bolton leads the team in strikeouts with 84 while DiPasquale has the second most with 68.

There are two more pitchers on the UMass staff. Freshman Natalee Horton (6-9, 4.73 ERA) has the most wins on the team with six and 57 strikeouts, and junior Jenna Bradley (2-3, 5.75 ERA) has two wins and 17 strikeouts.

TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (49 games played) | UMass (47 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .284 | .248
OBP: .368 | .325
SLG: .425 | .324
R: 230 | 154
H: 359 | 306
2B: 75 | 43
3B: 17 | 10
HR: 23 | 10
RBI: 198 | 135

PITCHING
ERA: 2.86 | 4.64
SO: 285 | 226
R: 164 | 245
ER: 136 | 203
H: 310 | 378
2B: 59 | 61
3B: 12 | 10
HR: 25 | 31

HISTORY WITH THE MINUTEWOMEN
Dating back to 2015, UMass leads the all-time series 8-2. The last time these two schools met was April 10-11, 2022, when UMass won two of three games against the Patriots.