AMHERST, Mass. – The George Mason softball team (14-26, 5-9 A-10) swept Massachusetts (11-26, 7-7 A-10) in Saturday's doubleheader at Sortino Field. In Game One, the Patriots won Game One by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning and won 7-5, while in Game Two, scored the last eight runs of the game to win 12-6.
Saturday's two wins marks Mason's first Atlantic 10 series win this season.
PATRIOT HIGHLIGHTS
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Both Jordan Tallman & Kylie Wilkerson won their fourth game of the season. Tallman won her second consecutive decision after pitching in relief and winning Game One, and Wilkerson pitched a complete game in Game Two.
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Emily Lampela, Logan Pickford, Marlaina Bozek and Maddy Myers all led the team with three RBI on the day.
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Pickford hit her fourth home run of the season in Game One, while Lampela and Sydney Bales hit their third homers of the season in Game Two.
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Bales went 2-for-3 in Game One and 3-for-4 in game two to finish the day leading the team in batting average (.714), on-base percentage (.750) and slugging (1.571). She was also one double away from hitting for the cycle in Game Two.
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The Patriots outhit the Minutewomen 24 to 15 and had a .381 team batting average compared to UMass's .259.
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Maya McGowan recorded her first RBI of her career in Game One in the top of the fourth inning.
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The Patriots scored 19 runs in one day, the most in a doubleheader this season.
GAME ONE: GEORGE MASON 7, UMASS 5
In Game One, the Patriots jumped out to a 3-0 by the fourth inning, but the Minutewomen tied it by 3-3 by the bottom of the fifth. After Mason scored one run in the sixth and UMass countered by taking the lead with a two run bottom of the sixth, the Patriots rallied in the top of the seventh and scored three runs to seal the victory.
In the top of the first inning, Marlaina Bozek (1-4, R, RBI) plated the first run of the game after her productive ground out RBI scored Rachel Warrens (1-3, R, 2B, BB) from third. The score would remain 1-0 until the top of the fourth, where Sydney Bales (2-3, R, RBI, 2B, SB, HBP) and Maya McGowan (1-3, RBI) recorded back-to-back RBI singles. It was also McGowan's first-career RBI.
The Minutewomen got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning with a Sarah Keagy (1-2, R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 BB) two-run home run. They would eventually tie the game in the next inning with a bases-loaded walk.
In the top of the sixth, Logan Pickford (2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, SF) hit an opposite field solo home run to give the Patriots a 4-3 lead. The sophomore now leads the team in home runs with four on the season.
UMass did not let up, however, as they scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth with a Payge Suggs (1-3, RBI, 2B) RBI double and a Patriot fielding error to take the late 5-4 lead.
The Patriots had a late-game rally of their own and scored three runs in the top of the seventh to retake the lead 7-5.
After starting the inning with back-to-back singles by Bozek and
Elyssa DeRosa (1-4, R),
Maddy Myers (0-4, R, RBI) put the ball into play and reached on base on an error, which scored one run to tie the game. Later in the inning both Pickford and
Emily Lampela (1-3, RBI, 2B, SF) hit sacrifice RBI flies to add to the Mason lead.
Starting pitcher
Carly Cooper (5.0 IP, 4 H 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 K) pitched five solid innings with four strikeouts, but
Jordan Tallman (2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) came in relief starting in the sixth inning. Tallman, like in
Wednesday's game, came in late in the game and has won her second decision in a row. The Latrobe, Pa., native now has four wins on the season.
GAME TWO: GEORGE MASON 12, UMASS 6
In Game Two, the Minutewomen had a 6-4 lead over the Patriots after the end of the second inning. However, the Patriots would score the next eight runs to run away with a 12-6 win in the end.
Mason starting pitcher Kylie Wilkerson (7.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) went the distance and secured her fourth win of her rookie campaign.
The Patriots first took the lead in the top of the first with an Elyssa DeRosa (2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB) two-run single, but UMass would quickly take the lead in the bottom of the first by posting a five-run inning which included Sarah Keagy's (1-2, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, HBP) second home run of the day.
Mason would cut the lead to one in the top of the second with a Marlaina Bozek (3-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB) two-run single. Bozek would finish the day going 4-for-8 with three RBI.
After UMass scored one run in the bottom of the second, the game's momentum shifted entirely in the Patriots' favor. They scored three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and four in the sixth to put the game out of reach.
In the fourth inning, with runners on the corners, Bozek stole second which allowed Kamryn Inman (2-3, R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, SH) to score from third. After DeRosa drew a walk, Maddy Myers (1-3, 2 RBI, 2B, BB) hit a double off the left field wall to score both Patriots on base to give Mason a 7-6 lead.
The lone run scored in the fifth inning was from an Inman RBI single to right center scoring
Sydney Bales (3-4, 3 R, RBI, 3B, HR).
The Patriots exploded for four more runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Logan Pickford (0-3, RBI, SF) scored the first run of the inning with an RBI sacrifice fly which scored Bozek and moved DeRosa over to third. Then,
Emily Lampela (1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB) hit a two-run home run to score both herself and DeRosa. The freshman now has three home runs on the season.
Immediately after,
Sydney Bales came up to bat and hit her career-high third home run of the season as well. The senior from La Plata, Md., was now just one double away from completing the cycle.
The Patriots would hold off the Minutewomen in the bottom of the seventh and win 12-6. It was the first time the Patriots had scored double digits in a single game since
March 23 in Game Two of the Loyola Chicago Saturday doubleheader.
UP NEXT
Mason and UMass will conclude the series tomorrow, April 14, with a newly-changed 11 a.m. start time.
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