GEORGE MASON SOFTBALL (11-23, 3-6 A-10) @ SAINT JOSEPH'S (13-17, 7-2 A-10)
WHEN: Sat-Sun., April 6-7, 2024
WHERE: Philadelphia, Pa. | SJU Softball Field
SCHEDULE:
Saturday Game One: Noon
Saturday Game Two: 2:30 p.m.
Sunday: Noon
HISTORY: Saint Joseph's leads the series 11-10; last played on April 15-16, 2023 (Mason swept Saint Joseph's 3-0 Fairfax)
LIVESTATS: CLICK HERE
WATCH (ESPN+)
SATURDAY GAME ONE – NOON: CLICK HERE
SATURDAY GAME TWO – 2:30 P.M.: CLICK HERE
NO STREAMING FOR SUNDAY
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The George Mason softball team (11-23, 3-6 A-10) will head up to Philadelphia to face Saint Joseph's (13-17, 7-2 A-10) in a weekend three-game series from Saturday, April 6, to Sunday, April 7, at SJU Softball Field. This is will be Mason's first games of the week as their Tuesday doubleheader at George Washington was
postponed due to inclement weather.
A LOOK AT THE PATRIOTS
Last week, Mason had a four-game homestand which saw them face #12/13 Missouri in a single Thursday game and Fordham in a three-game conference series. The Patriots lost to the Tigers 11-2 in six innings, and won one of three against the Rams.
Although the Patriots lost 11-2 in
Thursday's Mizzou game, they scored the most runs on Missouri during their east coast road trip, which included a 20-0 rout over Fordham, a 2-1 win over Hofstra in nine innings and a 7-0 shutout at Villanova.
Left fielder
Sydney Bales (.222 / .268 / .333) went a perfect 3-for-3 with one RBI. Not only was that a career-high hitting day for the senior, but no other opposing batter that week who faced the nationally-ranked Missouri team (Fordham, Hofstra, Mason, Villanova) recorded three hits or batted 1.000. Bales also led the Patriot squad last week in batting average (.600), on-base percentage (.600), slugging (.700), hits (6) and doubles (1, tied).
The Patriots then dropped two of three against Fordham. In
Friday's doubleheader, the Patriots won Game One 2-0 thanks to a solid
Carly Cooper (5-11, 3.82 ERA) six-inning shutout start and
Jordan Tallman's (2-4, 6.58 ERA, 1 SV) first-career save. Graduate shortstop
Rachel Warrens (.371 / .422 / .533) also extended her career-high 14 game hitting streak with a two-hit game.
In Game Two, the bats of the Rams came alive, as they scored one run in the first inning, five in the fourth and four more in the fifth. The Patriots could only score one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the game was called on account of the Run-Ahead rule.
In
Saturday's series finale, the game featured a pitchers' duel which saw Fordham come out with a 3-1 victory. The Patriots mounted a late game rally in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded but it unfortunately fell just short, as the final out was recorded in foul territory.
PATRIOT STAT LEADERS
BATTING
AVG: .371 (39-for-105) -
Rachel Warrens
OBP: .422 -
Rachel Warrens
SLG: .533 -
Rachel Warrens
R: 22 -
Rachel Warrens
H: 39 -
Rachel Warrens
2B: 10 -
Rachel Warrens
3B: 2 -
Marlaina Bozek &
Rachel Warrens
HR: 2 -
Emily Lampela,
Sydney Bales,
Maddy Myers &
Logan Pickford
RBI: 17 -
Maddy Myers
SB: 16 -
Rachel Warrens
BB: 14 -
Kamryn Inman
PITCHING
ERA: 3.82 -
Carly Cooper (Among starters)
IP: 95.1 -
Carly Cooper
K: 58 -
Carly Cooper
A-10 AWARDS THIS SEASON
Feb. 27 -
Kylie Wilkerson (
Rookie of the Week)
March 5 -
Marlaina Bozek (
Player of the Week)
April 2 -
Carly Cooper (
Pitcher of the Week)
NOTABLE STATS/STREAKS/AWARDS
Starting pitcher
Carly Cooper was named this week's
Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week.
Cooper pitched 14 innings over three starts, had a 1.50 ERA, struck out 10 batters and only had three runs scored on the week. After tossing a 10-pitch perfect inning against #12/13 Missouri, the Seneca Rocks, WVa., native followed it up with a shutout win against Fordham the next day, where she pitched six innings and struck out five batters.
In her final start of the week, Cooper battled the Rams in a pitchers' duel where she went the distance and struck out five more Rams. Her last start also included a career first in which she pitched a complete game and allowed zero walks.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
SAINT JOSEPH'S HAWKS (13-17, 7-2 A-10)
Chosen to finish eighth in the conference in this year's A-10 Preseason Poll, the Hawks have won 13 games in total and have jumped out to a conference-leading 7-2 conference record. In the conference standings, Mason's 3-6 record currently places them in eighth.
In the three A-10 series the Hawks have played this season, they have swept two of them. Saint Joseph's opened conference play by sweeping St. Bonaventure on March 16-17, with all three games ending in Run-Rule Victories. After dropping two of three to Saint Louis on March 23-24, who are currently sitting in second place in conference standings, the Hawks went on to complete another three-game sweep against Rhode Island on March 29-30.
Their most recent scheduled game against cross-town rival Drexel was canceled due to inclement weather.
Freshman outfielder Gianna Muhaw (.330 / .368 / .420) leads the team in hits (33), triples (3) and runs scored (18). Her triples are also tied for second for most in the conference. Junior utility player Sierra Fretz (.286 / .342 / .460) leads the team in doubles with eight.
Junior infielder Kayla Tauber (.388 / .420 / .500) has the team's highest batting average and is fifth in the A-10. Finally, sophomore outfielder Riley York (.274 / .321 / .466) has the most RBI recorded on the team with 20, with the second most being Fretz with 15.
On the pitching side, the Hawks are the only team in the Atlantic 10 to have not given up a triple yet this season. Senior Emily Siler (7-5, 3.37 ERA) is the team's primary pitcher, having pitched 62.1 innings, and leads the team with 39 strikeouts and seven wins. Siler also has the lowest ERA on the staff with 3.37.
The second-most used pitcher is sophomore Taylor Trowbridge (4-6, 5.18 ERA, 2 SV), who has pitched 50.0 innings and has the the second-most strikeouts with 33. Third in the Hawk rotation is sophomore Jules Scogna (1-3, 4.78 ERA, 2 SV), who has one win, 33.2 innings pitched and 15 strikeouts. Both Trowbridge and Scogna lead the pitching staff with two saves each as well.
HISTORY WITH THE HAWKS
Mason have matched up with conference foe Saint Joseph's 21 times, with the Hawks having a slim 11-10 series edge over the Patriots. Their first meeting was on Feb. 28, 2009, when the Hawks won 4-8 in Fairfax. The first time the Patriots traveled to Philadelphia to face the Hawks was in
2016, where Mason
won the series 2-1.
This will be Mason's first time back in Philadelphia since
2022, where they lost all three games.
The last time the two schools met was last season on April 15-16, when the Patriots swept the Hawks by winning all three weekend games. After a
two-hour lightning delay reduced the Saturday doubleheader to just one game, the Patriots still managed to shutout the Hawks 3-0 in the first game. In
Sunday's doubleheader, Mason shutout Saint Joseph's in Game One and proceeded to complete the sweep with a 3-1 win in Game Two.
TEAM STAT COMPARISONS: Mason (34 games played) | Saint Joseph's (30 games played)
BATTING
AVG: .240 | .279
OBP: .309 | .352
SLG: .328 | .374
R: 121 | 124
H: 208 | 207
2B: 33 | 41
3B: 5 | 9
HR: 11 | 4
RBI: 105 | 105
BB: 77 | 79
PITCHING
ERA: 4.09 | 5.05
K: 120 | 107
BB: 102 | 112
R: 165 | 169
ER: 131 | 132
H: 273 | 244
2B: 34 | 46
3B: 9 | 0
HR: 23 | 16
FIELDING
FLD: .955 | .960
PO: 672 | 549
A: 258 | 239
E: 44 | 33
UP NEXT
The Patriots will return home to play a single midweek game against Georgetown on Wed., April 10, at 4 p.m. at the George Mason Softball Complex. Wednesday's game will also be Military Appreciation Day.
Mason will then be on the road again next weekend, as they will head up to Amherst, Mass., to take on the UMass Minutewomen on April 13-14. The Saturday doubleheader will begin at noon, with the second game starting at 2:30 p.m., and Sunday's series finale will be scheduled for noon as well.
