FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason softball team (18-31, 9-14 A-10) split the Sunday doubleheader with St. Bonaventure (4-34, 3-20 A-10) at the George Mason Softball Complex. The Bonnies took Game One with a 3-2 score, and the Patriots won Game Two by the score of 2-1. The Patriots have now won three consecutive weekend A-10 series and have closed out their home season with a 10-10 home record.
PATRIOT HIGHLIGHTS
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Rachel Warrens collected her fifth triple of the season in Game One, adding to her career-high.
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Sydney Bales, who was the only Patriot with multiple hits in Game One, recorded her second triple of the season as well, matching her 2021 career-high
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Jordan Tallman pitched a complete game in Game Two to secure the win for the Patriots. She struck out a season-high six batters.
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Dara Sharpe recorded her first collegiate RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning of Game Two
GAME ONE: GEORGE MASON 2, ST. BONAVENTURE 3
Similar to yesterday's game, the Bonnies took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning; this time, the Bonnies would not relinquish the lead and added two more throughout the game. The Patriots would put up one run in each of the final two innings of the game, but they would end up losing by just one run.
Freshman right fielder Kymora Wang (1-4, RBI, 3B) did damage again to start the game, as she lined an RBI triple down the right field line, scoring Sydney DeGram (2-3, 2 R, BB) from first. After a scoreless second inning from both sides, St. Bonaventure struck again for two more runs in the top of the third.
With Olivia Whitecar (2-4, R) on third and DeGram on second, Eleanor Park (0-4, RBI) grounded out to second, but it was struck well enough for DeGRam to move to third and Whitecar to score. After a subsequent walk to Kendall Stull (0-3), Grace Walker (1-3, RBI) hit an RBI single to right field, scoring DeGram.
After five hits and three early runs given up by starting pitcher
Kylie Wilkerson (7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB 4 K), the freshman shut down the Bonnie offense for the rest of the game, allowing only two more hits from the fourth inning on. The Warrenton, Va., native also recorded a 1-2-3 fifth inning which included back-to-back strikeouts. Wilkerson would go on to finish the rest of the game and collect four total strikeouts.
The score would remain 3-0 in the Bonnies' favor until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Sydney Bales (2-3, R, 3B, SB) hit a one-out triple and would later be scored by a
Maddy Myers (0-3, RBI) ground out to short.
Going into the bottom of the seventh inning down 3-1, George Mason started the inning off with a
Zoe Vozick (1-3) single up the middle.
Kamryn Inman (R) came in as a pinch runner for Vozick after. Up next to bat was
Maya McGowan (1-2, BB), who hit a single to right, moving the speedy Inman to third. McGowan was then replaced with
Carly Cooper to be a pinch runner as well.
With runners on the corners and nobody out, pinch hitter
Kaleigh Friend (0-0, BB) was up to bat. During Friend's at-bat, Cooper initiated a double steal that got her out at second but scored Inman from third, cutting the Bonnie lead to just one run with one out. However, after Friend drew a walk, the Bonnies shut down the late Patriot rally with a
Marlaina Bozek (1-4) fielder's choice (force-out at second to get Friend out) and a Warrens fly out.
GAME TWO: GEORGE MASON 2, ST. BONAVENTURE 1
For the third straight game, St. Bonaventure took a first inning lead. The score would remain 1-0 Bonnies until late in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Patriots scored two runs to take the lead and ultimately win both the game and the series.
George Mason starting pitcher
Jordan Tallman (7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) pitched a complete game, only allowing one run on the afternoon. After allowing two hits in the first inning, she would only allow two more for the rest of the game. The Latrobe, Pa., product had four 1-2-3 innings and struck out a season-high six batters as well.
The only run scored by the Bonnies in the top of the first inning was by Grace Walker (1-3, RBI), who looped a single to right field, scoring Sydney Graham (0-2, R, BB).
The one hour thirty-nine minute game went by quickly, as both sides only saw on average 14 pitches per inning.
George Mason finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning. After
Emily Lampela (0-2, R, BB) drew a leadoff walk and later moved to second off a
Zoe Vozick (0-1, SH) sacrifice bunt, freshman third baseman
Dara Sharpe (1-2, R, RBI) recorded her first career RBI with a single through the left side which scored Lampela. Sharpe would advance to second on the outfield throw to home during Lampela's run home.
The Patriots were at the top of the order with
Marlaina Bozek (1-3, RBI) up to bat. After a lenghty battle with Bonnie starting pitcher Emily Phelan (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), the senior second baseman zipped an RBI single up the middle, scoring Sharpe from second. At the end of the inning, George Mason had the lead for the first time in the afternoon.
Tallman and the Patriot defense made quick work of the final six outs of the game; Sharpe made a stretching lineout catch to end the sixth and Tallman recorded her season-high sixth strikeout to start the seventh.
After Tallman secured a Bonnie pop out to get the second out of the seventh inning, it was
Maddy Myers - who recorded the final out of the 2023 A-10 Championship - that made the final out of the 2024 home season for the Patriots. The graduate student from Richmond, Va., made a basket catch in foul territory by the home dugout to secure the tenth home win for the Patriots.
UP NEXT
George Mason will play their final series of the regular season next weekend, as they will head up to Kingston, R.I., to play Rhode Island in a three-game series on May 4-5.
Saturday's doubleheader will begin at noon, with the second game starting at 2:30 p.m. Sunday's finale is slated for a noon start time as well.
