GEORGE MASON SOFTBALL (7-16) vs. DAYTON (10-8)
WHEN: Sat., March 16 @ Noon & 2:30 p.m. | Sun., March 17 @ Noon
WHERE: Fairfax, Va. | George Mason Softball Complex
HISTORY: Dayton leads series 17-11; last played on April 22-23, 2023 (Dayton won the series 2-1)
GAME PROGRAM (MARCH 16): CLICK HERE
LIVESTATS: CLICK HERE
WATCH (ESPN+)
SATURDAY@ NOON: CLICK HERE
SATURDAY @ 2:30 PM: CLICK HERE
SUNDAY @ NOON: CLICK HERE
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason softball team (7-16) will open Atlantic 10 Conference play this weekend, as they will host Dayton (10-8) at the George Mason Softball Complex on March 16 & 17. This will also be Dayton's first weekend of conference play.
Saturday's game will be Mason's Mental Health Awareness Game. George Mason Softball will use Saturday's game to promote
Morgan's Message, an organization that "strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student athlete community." QR codes and mental health resources will be available for fans to take.
As an addition, fans will receive a free Mental Health Awareness Cup, while supplies last.
Sunday will also be Mason's Youth Day, where kids will be able to run the bases after the game, as well as a postgame autograph session with the Mason Softball players. Since it will also be St. Patrick's Day, fans are encouraged to wear green on Sunday.
A LOOK AT THE PATRIOTS
Mason went on a six-game road trip from Fri., March 8, to Tuesday, March 12, where they first competed at the Beach Chicken Brawl in Conway, S.C., and lost to Coastal Carolina, Boston and Ohio. They then finished their road trip with a single midweek game to NC State on Tuesday, where they dropped their final game.
In
Friday's doubleheader, the Patriots dropped their opening game to Boston 5-1. Freshman
Emily Lampela (.239 / .294 / .348) hit her first collegiate home run in the bottom of the second inning to level the game. Also in the game, senior infielder
Marlaina Bozek (.301 / .325 / .384) extended her hitting streak to nine games with a single. Her streak would be snapped, however, in the Coastal Carolina game later in the day.
In the second game, Coastal Carolina, the tournament host, blanked the Patriots 7-0.
Saturday in Conway saw rains that caused the tournament schedule to be moved around, such as
canceling the Coastal Carolina game and rescheduling it for the following day. The only game played on Saturday was against
Boston, where the Patriots lost 2-0.
The final day of the tournament saw an
early morning doubleheader that started with Ohio, followed by Coastal Carolina. In the Ohio game, the Patriots took the lead twice, once in the first inning and again in the fourth. Mason first scored in the top of the first with a
Maddy Myers (.271 / .329 / .343) RBI single, but the Bobcats responded in the bottom half of the inning with a run of their own. Myers would go on to hit a game-high 3-for-3 and record an RBI.
After the Patriots retook the lead again with an
Emily Lampela fielder's choice, the Bobcats were able to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to secure a 4-2 win from the Patriots.
In the final game of the weekend, Mason faced the tournament hosts for the second time, where they were shut out for a second time. The Patriots and Chanticleers held each other scoreless for the first two innings, but Coastal Carolina broke the game open with a three-run third inning, followed by a one-run fourth inning and a two-run fifth.
On Tuesday, the Patriots capped off their road trip with a midweek game with NC State. The Wolfpack would go on to beat the Patriots 11-0 in five innings. Two Patriots recorded a hit in the game, both in the top of the third inning. Leadoff hitter
Kamryn Inman (.176 / .323 / .275) singled through the left side, and two batters later,
Rachel Warrens (.366 / .403 / .521) hit her seventh double of the season in left center.
Mason saw their best chance to score in the game. With one out and runners on second and third
Marlaina Bozek hit what was initially ruled to be an RBI sacrifice fly but was later reviewed to be an inning-ending double play, as it was reviewed that
Charlotte Montgomery (.173 / .246 / .192) the runner on third, left the base prior to the NC State right fielder catching the ball.
PATRIOT STAT LEADERS
BATTING
AVG: .366 (26-for-71) -
Rachel Warrens
OBP: .403 -
Rachel Warrens
SLG: .521 -
Rachel Warrens
R: 13 -
Rachel Warrens
H: 26 -
Rachel Warrens
2B: 7 -
Rachel Warrens
3B: 2 -
Rachel Warrens
HR: 1 -
Sydney Bales,
Kamryn Inman,
Logan Pickford,
Maddy Myers &
Emily Lampela
RBI: 13 -
Maddy Myers
SB: 11 -
Rachel Warrens
PITCHING
ERA: 3.86 -
Carly Cooper
IP: 61.2 -
Carly Cooper
K: 33 -
Carly Cooper
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
DAYTON FLYERS (10-8)
Chosen to win the conference in this year's A-10 Preseason Poll, the Flyers have won 10 games this season and are tied with Loyola Chicago with the second-most wins in the conference. Going into conference play, Saint Louis has the most overall wins with 12.
Dayton is coming into Fairfax after finishing 3-2 at the Indiana Invitational held in Bloomington, Ind. The Flyers won their first three games of the weekend, which consisted of two wins against IUPUI and one against Oakland. They then lost their final two games of the tournament after losing to Oakland in the second game and to the tournament host Indiana.
Freshman Kirnan Bailey (.333 / .458 / .396) leads the team in batting average and is this week's Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week. The infielder went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and three stolen bases in their first win over IUPUI, as well as recording three-multi-hit games. Over the weekend, she slashed .562 / .650 / .562.
Graduate student outfielder Emily Daniel (.327 / .438 / .385) has the most hits and RBI on the team with 17 and 14, respectively. Junior infielder Maddie Kapsimalis (.288 / .424 / .481) also leads the team in RBI with 14.
Not far behind Daniel in hits are Kirnan and junior outfielder Emma Schutter (.262 / .338 / .361) with 16. Of the seven Flyers who have recorded home runs this season, only graduate student Katie Reeg (.261 / .346 / .413) has multiple homers. The catcher currently has two.
On the pitching side, last year's conference Rookie of the Year Izzie Kemp (5-4, 1.86 ERA, 2 SV) continues to lead Dayton's staff. The sophomore from Westfield, Ind., has a team-high 61 strikeouts and two saves on 56.1 innings pitched and is the only pitcher to have pitched a complete game on the team, which she has accomplished five times this season.
The second-most used pitcher is junior Haven Dwyer (3-2, 5.81 ERA), who has 31.1 innings pitched and 18 strikeouts, the second most on the team. The third pitcher in the rotation is graduate student Sarah Bailitz (2-2, 2.62 ERA), who has the second-lowest earned run average of 2.62.
HISTORY WITH THE FLYERS
Mason have matched up with conference foe Dayton 28 times, with the Flyers having a 17-11 series edge over the Patriots. Their first meeting was on
April 25, 2014, when Dayton won 5-3 in Fairfax.
The last time the two schools met was late last season in a three-game weekend series in Dayton on
April 22-23. Although the Patriots
won one game 13-5 in five innings, which was the largest margin of victory in the series and the only game to have been called by Run-Rule, the Flyers won the other two games by one run and handed the Patriots their first conference series loss of the season.
Also of note: Pitcher/designated hitter
Jordan Anderson (.333 / .333 / .444) hit a home run in all three games that series. She was the only Patriot last season to accomplish such a feat.
TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (23 games played) | Dayton (18 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .237 | .263
OBP: .298 | .360
SLG: .310 | .370
R: 75 | 90
H: 138 | 128
2B: 20 | 20
3B: 4 | 4
HR: 5 | 8
RBI: 62 | 74
BB: 47 | 70
PITCHING
ERA: 3.70 | 3.24
K: 75 | 97
BB: 59 | 41
R: 106 | 70
ER: 80 | 55
H: 184 | 124
2B: 20 | 13
3B: 6 | 2
HR: 16 | 8
FIELDING
FLD: .949 | .957
PO: 453 | 356
A: 159 | 111
E: 33 | 21
UP NEXT
The Patriots will travel to Towson for a single midweek game with the Tigers on Wednesday, March 20 at 2 p.m.
They will resume A-10 action later that weekend by traveling to Chicago to take on Loyola on March 23-24. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT, with the second game starting at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 CT. Sunday's finale will begin at 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT as well.
