WASHINGTON, D.C. – The George Mason Softball team has been picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 this 2024 season, the conference announced Wednesday morning. The third-place ranking is the highest in Mason's recent memory and breaks four straight preseason polls of being picked seventh.

In the preseason coaches poll that is conducted by the conference's 10 head coaches, the Patriots secured 66 points with one first place vote. The two schools ahead of Mason are Loyola Chicago with 91 points (four first-place votes) and first-place Dayton with 93 (five first-place votes).

The Patriots recorded their best season in program history last year, winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament and earning a berth to the NCAA Softball Tournament for the very first time.

The 2023 Patriots broke numerous single-season program records, such as strikeouts pitched (360), RBI (226), home runs (27), doubles (90), stolen bases (135), walks (191), slugging percentage (.408) and fielding percentage (.977).

Mason is returning 14 players, including sophomore outfielder Elyssa DeRosa, who led the Atlantic 10 in triples with eight (as well as having the second-most in all of NCAA Div. I Softball), senior infielder Marlaina Bozek, who was an all-Atlantic 10 First Team member, and graduate student Rachel Warrens, who led the conference in stolen bases with 31. Other notable returners are graduate student infielder Maddy Myers and senior pitcher Carly Cooper, who both earned A-10 All-Championship Team honors.

2024 Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
1. Dayton - 93 (5)
2. Loyola Chicago - 91 (4)
3. George Mason - 66 (1)
4. Saint Louis - 64
5. Fordham - 62
6. Rhode Island - 60
7. George Washington - 40
8. Saint Joseph's - 36
9. Massachusetts - 28
10. St. Bonaventure - 10