#4 GEORGE MASON (31-21, 16-10 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE) vs #5 FORDHAM (20-26, 11-10 ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE)
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WHEN: Wed., May 10 @ Noon
WHERE: Bronx, N.Y. | Bahoshy Field (Fordham)
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HISTORY: This season: Patriots won the three-game weekend series against the Rams on March 29 - April 2

 

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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The George Mason softball team (31-21, 16-10 A-10) will compete in the Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament for the first time since the 2018 season. In the conference's press release, the Patriots are seeded No. 4 in this week's A-10 Championship. They will kickoff the Tournament on Wednesday, May 10 at noon against defending conference champions and host Fordham (20-26, 11-10 A-10) who are seeded No. 5 in the tournament.

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.

In their last meeting, the Patriots won the series at Fordham, by taking two of three games. It was also the series where the Patriots set the new all-time steals record.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
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)

Over the weekend, pitcher Aly Rayle tossed her third no-hitter of the season. In her Game One start against UMass, Rayle pitched a complete game shutout that went into extra innings. She pitched eight innings, allowed no walks and tied her career-high of striking out 12 batters in one game. The next day, Rayle made Mason Softball history by recording the most strikeouts in one season with 203 total on the year. During her last start, she went 6.2 innings and struck out nine more batters, surpassing Marina Vitalich's 2017 record of 195 and Lisa Davis' all-time record of 199.

The Patriots would take two of three against the Minutewomen and win the conference series. The Patriots won seven of nine conference series this year, with their only losses coming from Dayton and Saint Louis.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Fordham Rams are no strangers to A-10 postseason play. Since Mason joined the conference in 2014, Fordham has won seven A-10 titles, with the most recent one being last season.

The Rams are coming into the Tournament on a three-game winning streak. They swept conference foe George Washington (17-28, 7-19 A-10) and earned the No. 5 spot in postseason play. They finished the season with a 20-26 overall record and with a 11-10 A-10 record.

Sophomore catcher Sydney Wells (.259 / .311 / .543) is the team's power hitter. She led the team in the regular season in doubles (7), triples (1), home runs (8), RBI (36) total bases (63) and slugging percentage (.543). Junior pitcher/infielder Bailey Enoch (.226 / .406 / .400) has the second most RBI on the team with 26.

Freshman outfielder Neleh Nogay (.395 / .427 / .419) was a two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week and led the team in average (.395) and hits (49). The other Ram with at least 40 hits on the season was senior outfielder Michaela Carter (.276 / .335 / .283), who had exactly 40.

On the pitching side, two-time A-10 Pitcher of the Week awardee Holly Beeman (8-8, 1.56 ERA) is the team's ace. The freshman led the A-10 in ERA and led Fordham in innings pitched with 99. She also had 55 strikeouts on the season.

Bailey Enoch (6-7, 4.03 ERA) has also been named an A-10 Pitcher of the Week this season. She has pitched 87 innings and led the team in strikeouts with 56.

Finally, senior Devon Miller (6-8, 6.21 ERA) rounds out the Ram rotation. She has pitched 84 innings and also had 55 strikeouts on the season.

TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (52 games played) | Fordham (46 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .285 | .244
OBP: .367 | .313
SLG: .423 | .351
R: 241 | 158
H: 384 | 289
2B: 81 | 38
3B: 18 | 4
HR: 23 | 27
RBI: 208 | 143

PITCHING
ERA: 2.80 | 4.10
SO: 311 | 183
R: 170 | 176
ER: 142 | 135
H: 317 | 275
2B: 60 | 50
3B: 13 | 8
HR: 26 | 27

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

• No. 1: Saint Louis (29-23, 20-5 A-10)
• No. 2: Loyola Chicago (24-21, 18-6 A-10)
• No. 3: Dayton (33-18, 15-7 A-10)
• No. 4: George Mason (31-21, 16-10 A-10)
• No. 5: Fordham (20-26, 11-10 A-10)
• No. 6: Rhode Island (22-29-1, 12-13 A-10)

The Tournament schedule is the following:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10

• Game 1: #4 George Mason vs. #5 Fordham, Noon
• Game 2: #3 Dayton vs. #6 Rhode Island, 2:30 p.m.
• Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 5 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 11

• Game 4: #1 Saint Louis vs. Winner of Game 1, Noon
• Game 5: #2 Loyola Chicago vs. Winner of Game 2, 2:30 p.m.
• Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4/5 (Lower Seed), 5:00 p.m.

FRIDAY, MAY 12

• Game 7: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, Noon
• Game 8: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game4/5 (Higher Seed), 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.