HARRISONBURG, Va. – The George Mason softball team beat both Lehigh and Villanova by one run on Day One of the Weiler Orthodontics Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va. This is the first time the Patriots have won back-to-back games this season.
PATRIOT HIGHLIGHTS
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Carly Cooper tossed the season's first complete game shutout, striking out five batters in Game #1 against Lehigh.
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The Patriot defense stranded eight total Mountain Hawks on the bases in Game #1.
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In Game #2 against Villanova, the Patriots recorded season-highs in both runs scored in a single inning (4) and total runs in a game (6).
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Sydney Bales hit her first home run of the season in Game #2.
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Maddy Myers had a game-high two RBI in Game #2.
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Harlowe Nigh recorded her first Patriot win of the season in Game #2 after coming in relief in the first inning and pitching 4.2 innings.
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Pitcher Kylie Wilkerson made her collegiate debut in Game #2 in the bottom of the sixth inning and recorded a six-out save.
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In Game #2, the Patriot defense stranded 12 Wildcats on the bases.
GEORGE MASON 1, LEHIGH 0
The first game of the afternoon was a pitchers' duel between Mason's Carly Cooper (7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K) and Lehigh's Katelyn Young. Both starters went the distance, with only one run separating the two schools.
Cooper's best outing of the season consisted of seven shutout innings, two 1-2-3 innings, five strikeouts and a Patriot win over the Mountain Hawks. The Patriot defense showed a "bend, don't break" effort by being able to get out of multiple jams with runners on base. In total, the Patriot defense stranded a total of eight Lehigh runners on base.
The only run of the game was scored in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Rachel Warrens (0-3, 1 R, 1 SB) stole second base and advanced all the way home due to a Mountain Hawk throwing error.
Since Mason was the designated home team, Cooper and the defense only needed three more outs in the top of the seventh to secure the team's first win. The Mountain Hawks made a late-game push to tie the game with two outs, as the bases were loaded. However, Peyton Sward lined out to third baseman Kamryn Inman to end the game.
GEORGE MASON 6, VILLANOVA 5
Mason's offense caught fire early in the game, storming out to a 6-1 lead by the end of the second inning.
Rachel Warrens (3-4, RBI, 2B, SB) started the game off with a leadoff single, followed by a stolen base. The speedy shortstop was able to round third and score off a Wildcat fielding error during Elyssa DeRosa's (0-4, R) at bat. Later in the inning, Maddy Myers (1-3, 2 RBI) scored DeRosa from third with an RBI groundout.
Villanova responded in the bottom of the first inning with a Brooklyn Ostrowski RBI double, which knocked out starter Jordan Tallman (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) early. Harlowe Nigh (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) came in relief and inherited runners on second and third. Nigh's first at bat resulted in a walk, loading the bases, but Rachel Warrens was able to get Ava Franz out at home on a force out and Grace Reed flew out to left to end the early Wildcat threat.
The Patriots scored four runs in the top of the second inning to extend their lead. Junior outfielder Sydney Bales (1-3, RBI, HR) started the scoring run with a leadoff home run, her first of the season. Next up to bat was Cheyenne DeGross (0-3, R), who reached base on a Wildcat error and later advanced to second on a Charlotte Montgomery (1-3, R) single. Rachel Warrens, the fourth batter of the inning, hit an RBI double to right center, scoring DeGross and moving Mongtomery to third. Marlaina Bozek (1-2, RBI) would add to the lead with an RBI sacrifice fly, scoring Montgomery, and Maddy Myers drove in the last run of the inning with an RBI single down the left field line, scoring Warrens from third.
Villanova put up two runs in the bottom of the second inning to halve the Patriot lead to 6-3. With the bases loaded, Alyssa Seidler scored after Ally Jones reached on a fielder's choice, and Brooklyn Ostrowski's foul out to left field scored Tess Cites from third.
The Wildcats would continue to chip away at the Patriot lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Maddie Burrows hit a two-run home run to cut the Patriot lead down to only one run.
Freshman pitcher
Kylie Wilkerson (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K) made her collegiate debut with a shutout sixth inning. After allowing the first two batters on with a pair of singles, the Warrenton, Va., product was able to retire the next three batters, including an inning-ending strikeout.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Patriot offense could only muster up a
Rachel Warrens single. Warrens' 3-for-4 evening would be soured, as she would be caught stealing later in the inning.
Kylie Wilkerson was brought back on to finish out the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mason's closer struck out leadoff hitter Kelsey White then got Elaina Wagner to line out to Warrens at short. After Tess Cites drew a 3-1 walk, Wilkerson ended the game with a foul-tip strikeout and secured her first-career save.
UP NEXT
The Patriots will only play one game tomorrow, as they will face Lehigh for the second time this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Livestats of the game can be found by following this link.
FEB. 17 UPDATE: Saturday's game with Lehigh has been canceled due to inclement weather.
