GEORGE MASON SOFTBALL (7-10) @ BEACH CHICKEN BRAWL
WHEN: Fri.-Sun., March 8-10, 2024
WHERE: Conway, S.C. | St. John Stadium
OPPONENTS: Coastal Carolina (13-6), Boston (13-1), Ohio (11-8)
SCHEDULE:
Fri., March 8 – Boston, 12:30 p.m.; Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m.
Sat., March 9 – Boston, 10 a.m.; Coastal Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
Sun., March 10 – Ohio, 9:30 a.m.
HISTORY:
Coastal Carolina leads series 1-0; last played on
Feb. 11, 2012 (L, 4-3)
Boston leads the series 4-0; last played on
Feb. 8 2020 (L, 6-0)
Ohio leads the series 2-0; last played
Feb. 10, 2023 (L, 6-5)
LIVESTATS: CLICK HERE
WATCH (ESPN+):
COASTAL CAROLINA (FRI. @ 6 P.M.): CLICK HERE
COASTAL CAROLINA (SAT. @ 3:30 P.M.): CLICK HERE
CONWAY, S.C. – The George Mason softball team (7-10) will travel to Conway, S.C., for their fourth and final regular season tournament, as they will face Coastal Carolina (13-6), Boston (13-1) and Ohio (11-8) at the Beach Chicken Brawl held at St. John Stadium from Friday, March 8 to Sunday, March 10.
The Patriots will play doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday which will feature Coastal Carolina, the host school, and Boston. They will then play Ohio in a single game Sunday finale. Mason's two games against Coastal Carolina will be streamed on ESPN+.
A LOOK AT THE PATRIOTS
Mason had their home opener in Fairfax, where the Patriots finished with a 3-3 record. The Patriots
lost both games to Stony Brook on Saturday but ended up
sweeping Cornell in Sunday's doubleheader. Then on Tuesday, UMass Lowell came to the George Mason Softball Complex for a midweek doubleheader and
split the series.
This week, the Atlantic 10 conference named second baseman
Marlaina Bozek (.351 / .367 / .456) the conference's
Player of the Week. It was Bozek's first career conference weekly honor and the softball team's second weekly award of the season.
In Game #1 of the UMass Lowell game on Tuesday, shortstop
Rachel Warrens (.370 / .397 / .537) made a diving play that was featured on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays on March 6.
Other highlights over the six-game homestand included:
- Maddy Myers with a team-high five RBI, which included a two-run home run in Game #2 against Cornell.
- Marlaina Bozek currently has an eight-game hitting streak dating back to Feb. 24. During that streak, she is hitting .500 and leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage (.533), slugging (.643) and hits (14)
- Kamryn Inman recorded her first RBI triple in Game #2 of the Stony Brook doubleheader and displayed excellent defense at third base in the Cornell series.
- In the Cornell series, Carly Cooper pitched her fourth complete game of the season along with earning her third win, while Kylie Wilkerson earned her second win of the season.
- Harlowe Nigh continued to pitch strong relief innings. The sophomore currently carries a streak of 6.2 innings of shutout relief pitching.
- Every Patriot in the batting lineup recorded a hit during Cornell series and in Game #1 against UMass Lowell.
- Starting pitcher Jordan Tallman recorded her first win of the season in Game #1 against UMass Lowell
- Haleigh Dellow went a career-high five innings in relief in Game #2 against UMass Lowell and recorded her first collegiate strikeout to end the top of the sixth inning.
PATRIOT STAT LEADERS
BATTING
AVG: .370 (20-for-54) -
Rachel Warrens (20-for-54)
OBP: .397 -
Rachel Warrens
SLG: .537 -
Rachel Warrens
R: 12 -
Rachel Warrens
H: 20 -
Marlaina Bozek &
Rachel Warrens
2B: 5 -
Rachel Warrens
3B: 2 -
Rachel Warrens
HR: 1 -
Sydney Bales,
Kamryn Inman, Logan Pickford &
Maddy Myers
RBI: 12 -
Maddy Myers &
Rachel Warrens
SB: 10 -
Rachel Warrens
PITCHING
ERA: 2.18 -
Kylie Wilkerson
IP: 49.2 -
Carly Cooper
K: 30 -
Carly Cooper
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
COASTAL CAROLINA CHANTICLEERS (13-6)
The Chanticleers have played seven games in the last seven days and have won six of them. They went 5-1 in last week's Chanticleer Showdown tournament, where they went 2-1 against Oakland and beat Michigan State, Iona and Yale. This past Tuesday, they traveled to Wilmington, N.C., and shutout UNCW 7-0.
Senior second baseman Riley Zana (.352 / .426 / .444) leads the team's starters in batting average and has the most hits (19), tied sophomore third baseman Delaney Keith (.328 / .403 / .466). Graduate student utility player Iyanla De Jesus (.275 / .383 / .627) has the most RBI and home runs for the team with 18 and five, respectively.
On the pitching side, Raelee Branham (9-2, 1.11 ERA) is the main Chanticleer in the circle, as she has nine wins, three complete games and has a team-leading 60 strikeouts and 63 innings pitched. The second-most used pitcher is junior Nicolette Picone (2-4, 2.67 ERA, 4 SV), who has 36.2 innings pitched, pitched in relief in most of her appearances and leads the team in saves with four. The third pitcher that has recorded wins on the year is freshman Abby Henderson (2-0, 2.25 ERA) with two wins and 18.2 innings pitched. Henderson leads the team in walks with 11.
The Patriots and Chanticleers have only met once prior to this weekend's two-game series. Mason lost to Coastal Carolina on
Feb. 11, 2012 in a tightly-contested 4-3 game in Conway.
TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (17 games played) | Coastal Carolina (19 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .265 | .263
OBP: .319 | .353
SLG: .347 | .420
R: 72 | 82
H: 120 | 121
2B: 17 | 15
3B: 4 | 3
HR: 4 | 17
RBI: 60 | 73
PITCHING
ERA: 3.25 | 1.83
K: 67 | 101
R: 71 | 43
ER: 54 | 33
H: 135 | 104
2B: 13 | 17
3B: 4 | 2
HR: 11 | 4
FIELDING
FLD: .954 | .966
PO: 348 | 378
A: 129 | 154
E: 23 | 19
BOSTON TERRIERS (13-1)
This Terriers began their 2024 campaign winning their first 13 games (a program record), with every victory being decided by three or more runs, with exception to one game where they won 2-1. Boston was also ranked #25 by D1Softball in the week of Feb. 19. Their winning streak was snapped after playing their most recent game to #7/6 Duke on Feb. 24 in a close 4-2 game at the Duke Invitational.
Boston swept the Patriot League's weekly awards with strong performances from graduate student pitcher/utility player Lizzy Avery (3-0, 2.86 ERA, 1 SV, .514 / .564 / .571) sophomore infielder Brooke Deppisse (.326 / .348 / .581) and freshman outfielder Kylie Doherty (.296 / .367 / .481).
Avery leads the team in batting average and has 18 hits, two doubles and 10 RBI on the season. Over the Feb. 24 weekend, she pitched six innings and recorded a win against Elon and a save against Villanova, batted .462, recorded two RBI and scored two more runs.
Deppisse batted .500 and led the team with six RBI and and five runs scored, while Doherty batted .455 with two doubles, scored three, runs and recorded four RBI at the Duke Invitational.
The Patriots and Terriers have faced each other four times, with their first meeting dating back to Feb. 25, 2006. Boston has won all four times, with their last meeting being in DeLand, Fla., at the Stetson Leadoff Classic on
Feb. 8, 2020, where the Patriots lost 6-0.
TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (17 games played) | Boston (14 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .265 | .343
OBP: .319 | .391
SLG: .347 | .488
R: 72 | 104
H: 120 | 138
2B: 17 | 22
3B: 4 | 3
HR: 4 | 10
RBI: 60 | 87
PITCHING
ERA: 3.25 | 1.67
K: 67 | 96
R: 71 | 23
ER: 54 | 22
H: 135 | 56
2B: 13 | 6
3B: 4 | 2
HR: 11 | 6
FIELDING
FLD: .954 | .976
PO: 348 | 276
A: 129 | 93
E: 23 | 9
OHIO BOBCATS (11-8)
Ohio has been 5-4 in their last two weekends are going into this weekend having lost their last three games. In last week's Governor's Classic held in Clarksville, Tenn., the Bobcats won their first game to IUPUI 15-2 in five innings and lost to Saint Louis and Indiana State (twice). All three losses were decided by three or fewer runs.
Senior infielder Tori O'Brien (.356 / .383 / .467) leads the team in batting average, while junior utility player Emma Hoffner (.353 / .450 / .529) and sophomore infielder Shelby Westler (.340 / .375 / .472) share the team lead in hits with 18. The Bobcats also hit for power, as Westler leads the team in doubles with seven, and three Bobcats have three home runs on the season. Those three players are seniors Annalia Paoli (.259 / .333 / .500), Yasmine Logan (.281 / .369 / .491) and freshman Izzie Wilson (.320 / .414 / .560).
On the pitching side, redshirt sophomore Skipp Miller (6-4, 2.28 ERA, 1 SV) is Ohio's main pitcher, having pitched 61.1 innings, completed eight games, won six games and struck out a team-leading 37 batters. Freshman Mikie Lieving (4-2, 3.15 ERA) is the team's second go-to pitcher, having tossed 40 innings and has the second-most strikeouts with 27. Ohio's third pitcher who has recorded 15 striekouts in 15.1 innings of work is sophomore Keegan Moore (1-2, 5.02 ERA).
The Patriots have only faced off against the Bobcats twice in program history, with the first meeting being on March 17, 2006, and their latest meeting just last season in Mason's home opener on
Feb. 10, 2023. In that 2023 match up, the Patriots came from behind and scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning before Annalia Paoli tied the game with a two-run home run. The Bobcats would eventually score the winning run later in the bottom of the seventh inning.
TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (17 games played) | Ohio (19 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .265 | .283
OBP: .319 | .349
SLG: .347 | .413
R: 72 | 85
H: 120 | 143
2B: 17 | 27
3B: 4 | 3
HR: 4 | 11
RBI: 60 | 74
PITCHING
ERA: 3.25 | 3.14
K: 67 | 79
R: 71 | 63
ER: 54 | 54
H: 135 | 127
2B: 13 | 21
3B: 4 | 5
HR: 11 | 6
FIELDING
FLD: .954 | .973
PO: 348 | 361
A: 129 | 135
E: 23 | 14
UP NEXT
Mason will travel just one state north and stop in Raleigh, N.C., for a one-game midweek match up with NC State on Tuesday, March 12. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The Patriots will then return home to open Atlantic 10 Conference play with Dayton on March 16-17. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for noon and 2:30 and Sunday's finale will start at noon.
