George Washington University Athletics
Wednesday, May 8
Amherst, MA
1:30 PM
George Washington University
vs
Saint Louis
Softball Seeks A-10 Championship at UMass
5/6/2019 5:23:00 PM | Softball
Colonials are seeded third in six-team tournament
George Washington softball looks to build on an already historic campaign, chasing a title at this week's Atlantic 10 Championship, hosted by UMass at Sortino Field in Amherst, Mass.
The Colonials (39-15) claimed the No. 3 seed in the six-team field after going 15-7 in conference play and will face sixth-seeded Saint Louis on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. to open the double-elimination tournament.Â
The winner between GW and Saint Louis advances to meet No. 2 seed UMass on Thursday, while the loser drops into the consolation bracket for an elimination game later Wednesday.
LAST TIME OUT:Â GW closed out the regular season last Saturday in Philadelphia with a doubleheader sweep of La Salle to clinch its best-ever regular season finish in the A-10 standings. The Colonials took the opener, 7-2, before earning a 6-4 win to close the day.
It was the third straight winning weekend for the Buff and Blue, who have won nine of their past 11 games in all.
Sierra Lange earned her 26th win of the season with four hitless innings in the first game before Megan Osterhaus earned her first career victory in game two.
Marta Fuentes recorded a pair of multi-hit efforts, while Jenna Cone and Jessica Linquist hit home runs vs. the Explorers.
ELITE COMPANY:Â With a .349 team batting average, GW checks in second nationally behind only No. 1 Oklahoma (.366).
Under first-year head coach Shane Winkler, the Colonials have piled up a program-record 520 hits through 54 games. They've reached double figures 25 times, highlighted by 18-hit efforts vs. UMass (April 14) and St. Bonaventure (April 18).
The Buff and Blue also rank in the top 20 nationally in doubles per game (1.80, third), triples per game (0.35, seventh), on-base percentage (.411, 10th), slugging percentage (.522, 17th) and scoring (6.37, 16th).
GW owns three of the top six individual batting averages in the A-10 with Lange (.426), Cone (.395) and Linquist (.389).Â
JENNA-RATING OFFENSE:Â Cone socked a solo home run last Saturday at La Salle to break her own GW single-season record with her 19th of the season. The junior slugger picked up her 63rd RBI of the season, also a program record.
Earlier this season, Cone became GW's career leader in both categories. She enters the A-10 Championship with 49 home runs and 183 RBIs in 159 games as a Colonial.
Hitting a career-best .395, Cone has also taken down the GW records for extra-base hits (33) and total bases (139) this spring.
SUPERB STREAK:Â Linquist has sparked the GW offense with her consistency at the top of the batting order this season.
The junior from New Jersey tallied the longest recorded hitting streak in the country since 2014 with a run that reached 28 games before ending April 13 at UMass. Her program-record streak of 38 consecutive games reaching base ended in the second game of the doubleheader.
After having her sophomore season cut short by a knee injury, Linquist has come back strong to reach base safely in 47 of 54 games on the season, compiling a .498 on-base percentage. She's set career highs across the board offensively, highlighted by a program-record 59 runs scored.
SIERRA'S STUNNING STATS:Â Lange has set GW records in nearly every pitching category this season, posting 26 wins with a 2.64 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 220 1/3 innings. The sophomore from Texas ranks fifth nationally in victories and 28th in strikeouts.Â
Lange earned an A-10 best 12 wins against conference competition this season. She's tossed five shutouts this spring and earned a pair of wins over top-100 RPI opponents (North Carolina and UNC Greensboro).
Lange also shares the national lead with 78 hits, along with California's Lindsay Rood. Her .426 batting average (78-for-183) leads the A-10, and she ranks among the top 10 in the conference in runs (47, third), doubles (16, fifth), triples (6, first), RBIs (36, eighth) and steals (17, sixth).
COMING ON STRONG:Â Priscilla Martinez has been GW's leading hitter in A-10 play with a .417 batting average (25-for-60) over 22 games.
Primarily hitting in the cleanup spot, the sophomore from California has reached base in all but two contests vs. conference foes with seven multi-hit efforts.
Alessandra Ponce leads the club with 21 RBI in A-10 play. The sophomore from Nevada is hitting .379 (25-for-66) with eight doubles and two home runs vs. conference competition.
SCOUTING THE FIELD:Â GW owns a 9-6 record vs. the A-10 Championship field, including series wins over No. 4 Dayton, No. 5 Saint Joseph's and No. 6 Saint Louis. The Colonials swept a three-game set vs. the Billikens on the Mount Vernon Campus last month.
The Colonials played three games at Sortino Field on April 13-14, going 1-2 vs. the host Minutewomen.
The Colonials (39-15) claimed the No. 3 seed in the six-team field after going 15-7 in conference play and will face sixth-seeded Saint Louis on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. to open the double-elimination tournament.Â
The winner between GW and Saint Louis advances to meet No. 2 seed UMass on Thursday, while the loser drops into the consolation bracket for an elimination game later Wednesday.
LAST TIME OUT:Â GW closed out the regular season last Saturday in Philadelphia with a doubleheader sweep of La Salle to clinch its best-ever regular season finish in the A-10 standings. The Colonials took the opener, 7-2, before earning a 6-4 win to close the day.
It was the third straight winning weekend for the Buff and Blue, who have won nine of their past 11 games in all.
Sierra Lange earned her 26th win of the season with four hitless innings in the first game before Megan Osterhaus earned her first career victory in game two.
Marta Fuentes recorded a pair of multi-hit efforts, while Jenna Cone and Jessica Linquist hit home runs vs. the Explorers.
ELITE COMPANY:Â With a .349 team batting average, GW checks in second nationally behind only No. 1 Oklahoma (.366).
Under first-year head coach Shane Winkler, the Colonials have piled up a program-record 520 hits through 54 games. They've reached double figures 25 times, highlighted by 18-hit efforts vs. UMass (April 14) and St. Bonaventure (April 18).
The Buff and Blue also rank in the top 20 nationally in doubles per game (1.80, third), triples per game (0.35, seventh), on-base percentage (.411, 10th), slugging percentage (.522, 17th) and scoring (6.37, 16th).
GW owns three of the top six individual batting averages in the A-10 with Lange (.426), Cone (.395) and Linquist (.389).Â
JENNA-RATING OFFENSE:Â Cone socked a solo home run last Saturday at La Salle to break her own GW single-season record with her 19th of the season. The junior slugger picked up her 63rd RBI of the season, also a program record.
Earlier this season, Cone became GW's career leader in both categories. She enters the A-10 Championship with 49 home runs and 183 RBIs in 159 games as a Colonial.
Hitting a career-best .395, Cone has also taken down the GW records for extra-base hits (33) and total bases (139) this spring.
SUPERB STREAK:Â Linquist has sparked the GW offense with her consistency at the top of the batting order this season.
The junior from New Jersey tallied the longest recorded hitting streak in the country since 2014 with a run that reached 28 games before ending April 13 at UMass. Her program-record streak of 38 consecutive games reaching base ended in the second game of the doubleheader.
After having her sophomore season cut short by a knee injury, Linquist has come back strong to reach base safely in 47 of 54 games on the season, compiling a .498 on-base percentage. She's set career highs across the board offensively, highlighted by a program-record 59 runs scored.
SIERRA'S STUNNING STATS:Â Lange has set GW records in nearly every pitching category this season, posting 26 wins with a 2.64 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 220 1/3 innings. The sophomore from Texas ranks fifth nationally in victories and 28th in strikeouts.Â
Lange earned an A-10 best 12 wins against conference competition this season. She's tossed five shutouts this spring and earned a pair of wins over top-100 RPI opponents (North Carolina and UNC Greensboro).
Lange also shares the national lead with 78 hits, along with California's Lindsay Rood. Her .426 batting average (78-for-183) leads the A-10, and she ranks among the top 10 in the conference in runs (47, third), doubles (16, fifth), triples (6, first), RBIs (36, eighth) and steals (17, sixth).
COMING ON STRONG:Â Priscilla Martinez has been GW's leading hitter in A-10 play with a .417 batting average (25-for-60) over 22 games.
Primarily hitting in the cleanup spot, the sophomore from California has reached base in all but two contests vs. conference foes with seven multi-hit efforts.
Alessandra Ponce leads the club with 21 RBI in A-10 play. The sophomore from Nevada is hitting .379 (25-for-66) with eight doubles and two home runs vs. conference competition.
SCOUTING THE FIELD:Â GW owns a 9-6 record vs. the A-10 Championship field, including series wins over No. 4 Dayton, No. 5 Saint Joseph's and No. 6 Saint Louis. The Colonials swept a three-game set vs. the Billikens on the Mount Vernon Campus last month.
The Colonials played three games at Sortino Field on April 13-14, going 1-2 vs. the host Minutewomen.
WATCH THIS: Hear from Winkler, Ponce and Lange ahead of the A-10 Championship.
🚌 On the road to A-10s!
— GW Softball (@GW_Softball) May 7, 2019
Hear from Head Coach Shane Winkler, Alessandra Ponce and Sierra Lange as we get set to kick off the tournament vs. Saint Louis! #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/53xLjZAcrO
Players Mentioned
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