Lazy Bats

By Broadside Sports Editor Brian Chan

Junior pitcher Becky Anderson only needed three hits from her offense to keep the opposing batters at bay as the George Mason University Patriots (6-4) defeated the University of Akron Zips in Friday’s 2-1 pitching duel.

Anderson (4-2) allowed just two hits and a run that went unearned. After the Zips loaded the bases in the 1st inning, Mason’s pitching phenom retired 10 consecutive batters, inducing a number of groundballs. Freshman catcher Anush Mooradian went 2-for-3 with an RBI as Mason won their first game in the Patriot Classic Tournament.

Mason (6-5) scored four runs in the 7th inning, but that was not enough to extend the team’s five-game winning streak in their 8-4 loss to the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks. Freshman second baseman Alyssa See went 2-for-3, and freshman third baseman Rachael Davies hit a two-run double. Freshman pitcher Miranda Cranford (1-1), the CAA Rookie of the Week, gave up nine hits and eight runs as she pitched a complete game.

Mason led off the 7th inning with three consecutive hits, two of them for extra-base hits. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Davies smacked a double to right center, bringing Mason within five runs. Mason tacked on another run, but freshman catcher Morgan Davis grounded out to end the game.

Freshman pitcher Brianne Pease (1-3) struck out six batters, but gave up nine hits and six runs as Mason (6-6) dropped 6-1 to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. Mason totaled eight hits and left 11 men on base. Mason had the bases loaded in the 3rd inning with only one out, but freshman shortstop Tori Dudley and Davis struck out to end the threat. Mason loaded the bases again in the 6th inning, but they could not capitalize as Davies struck out to end the inning. Mason struck out nine times in the game.