George Washington University
Dayton
Softball Set to Battle for A-10 Championship
5/11/2021 2:51:00 PM | Softball
Top-seeded Buff & Blue open play vs. Dayton on Thursday
After claiming its first-ever conference regular season title, GW softball aims to make more history this week at the Atlantic 10 Championship.
The top-seeded Buff and Blue will begin their push for more hardware and an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship on Thursday with an 11 a.m. start vs. No. 4 Dayton at SJU Softball Field in Merion Station, Pa.
The winner advances to a Friday semifinal vs. either No. 2 Saint Joseph's or No. 3 Fordham, while the loser will play later Thursday in an elimination game. The champion of the four-team, double-elimination tournament is set to be crowned on Saturday.
"We've really locked in and talked about what this week means. We've spent all season long talking about every single game being a championship game. If you take that approach, then you're ready for the middle of May when the Tournament starts." - @ShaneWinkler #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/AFQKhAIOYz
— GW Softball (@GW_Softball) May 11, 2021
LAST TIME OUT: GW finished a 23-1 run through the A-10 Central Pod last weekend with a four-game sweep at St. Bonaventure.
The Buff and Blue outscored the Bonnies, 44-6, for the weekend, hitting .432 as a team while compiling a staff ERA of 0.88.
In recognition of that excellence, GW swept the final round of A-10 weekly awards with Jenna Cone (Player of the Week), Sierra Lange (Pitcher of the Week) and Alexa Williams (Rookie of the Week) honored.
GW enjoyed a record-breaking finale with two program single-game records falling in a 14-5 victory. Alessandra Ponce drove in eight runs on a sac fly, a grand slam and a three-run double, while Cone was walked in all five of her plate appearances.
A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: GW has qualified for its third straight A-10 Championship (2018, 2019, 2021) and will compete in the conference tournament for the seventh time overall. The program begins this week with a 7-11 all-time record in A-10 Championship play.
In 2019, the Colonials were named co-champions with Fordham after the winner-take-all final was rained out. Nine current members of the program were part of that team.
NATIONAL ATTENTION: Thanks to its all-around excellence this spring, GW ranks among the national leaders in a number of statistical categories.
The Colonials sit fourth in the country in scoring at 7.56 runs per game, and they're also near the top of the list in team batting average (.354, fourth), slugging percentage (.598, fifth) and on-base percentage (.432, fourth).
Behind the exemplary work of Lange and Faith Weber, GW has a staff ERA of 1.87 to rank 15th nationally, and the Buff and Blue have also been spectacular defensively with a .978 fielding percentage that ranks 12th among D-I squads.
POWER SURGE: GW rocked eight more home runs last weekend, including an inside-the-park shot from Maggie Greco, to push their program-record season total to 62.
The Buff and Blue long ago blew past the previous program record of 44 long balls set over 62 games during the 2019 season, and they are averaging 1.49 home runs per game, good for 14th nationally.
Cone leads the way with 17 homers on the season to pace the A-10, while Weber (13), Ponce (10) and Lange (7) rank among the top 10 in the league. In all, eight different Colonials have now gone yard this season.
QUITE THE CAREER: With two more homers and five RBIs last weekend, Cone now has 73 homers and 248 RBIs for her career.
She's driven in the most runs of any active student-athlete across the country with a total that puts her in a tie for 18th on the all-time NCAA list.
She ranks third among active student-athletes in homers and has also secured a spot in the national record book there.
Cone is also the program's all-time leader in runs scored (192), hits (269), total bases (544), walks (121), HBP (34), on-base percentage (.494), slugging percentage (.791) and games played (232).
BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER: Lange has returned to the lineup after missing last spring due to injury and picked up right where she left in her All-Conference 2019 season.
The Plano, Texas, native leads the A-10 in wins (17) and strikeouts (170), and her 1.83 ERA in 141 2/3 innings is a career best. She's been even better in A-10 play, going 12-1 with a 1.41 ERA.
This spring, Lange has become the program's all-time leader in wins (63) and strikeouts (531). She also made a bit of history at SJU Softball Field on April 17 when she tossed a five-inning no-hitter vs. the Hawks, the fifth in program history and first since 2018.
Offensively, Lange has continued to do her part in the No. 3 hole behind Jessica Linquist and Cone. She's hitting .410 on the season with a team-high 55 hits, including a career high seven homers, while also ranking among the top five in the conference in runs scored (42), triples (four) and steals (14).
We've been waiting two years for this opportunity! ?? #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/S5CBWphLj6
— GW Softball (@GW_Softball) May 12, 2021
SCOUTING THE FIELD: Dayton finished 14-8 in A-10 play, including four losses to the Buff and Blue on the Mount Vernon Campus on April 10-11.
The Flyers are led offensively by Abby Ehrenborg, who ranks second in the A-10 with 16 homers, and in the circle by first-year Addy Bullis, who is 11-6 with a 1.97 ERA.
Saint Joseph's finished atop the North Pod, at 19-3, after taking three of four at Fordham last weekend. The Hawks are hitting .323 as a team and averaging 5.9 runs per game, led by Kirstin Cox (.438) and Caela Abadie (.393, 14 HR).
Fordham (17-3) ended up runner-up behind the Hawks after carrying a perfect record into the final weekend of the regular season. The Rams have leaned on the stellar pitching of Devon Miller (13-3, 1.45 ERA), Anne Marie Prentiss (7-0, 1.58 ERA) and Madie Aughinbaugh (13-2, 2.21 ERA).
