Friday, May 13
Fairfax, VA
12 PM
George Washington University
34-14
0
vs
1
Fordham
29-19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Fordham
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
3
0
George Washington
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
Softball Headed Back to A-10 Final
5/13/2022 8:31:00 PM | Softball
Buff & Blue beat Dayton in elimination game
FAIRFAX, Va. - GW softball booked its spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship final on Friday evening with a 8-0 defeat of Dayton in six innings at George Mason Softball Complex.
Alexa Williams cracked a first-inning home run, Alessandra Ponce reached base four times and Hannah Eslick's three-run double sealed the run-rule victory that sent the Buff and Blue into their third straight conference final. Sierra Lange authored her 18th career shutout in her second terrific start of the day.
Earlier, GW was edged by Fordham, 1-0. The Buff and Blue will need to beat the Rams twice on Saturday to claim their second straight conference championship title, the same path they followed en route to the crown a year ago. The opener will be a 10:30 a.m. first pitch with the time adjusted due to forecasted inclement weather.
GW 8, Dayton 0:Â The Buff and Blue piled up eight runs on 11 hits over the six innings on the way to eliminating the Flyers.
GW jumped on top quickly in its second game of the day. Lange worked a walk and then Williams blasted two-run shot over the left-center field fence.
Dayton made an early pitching change after a walk to Ponce, and she later came around to score on Maggie Greco's two-out single that made it 3-0.
In the second, the top of the order ignited a two-out rally to extend it to 4-0. Lange walked, moved up on Williams' hit and scored on an RBI single from Ponce.
That was the score in the sixth when the Buff and Blue erupted for four more to end the game. The top of the lineup was the catalyst again with the first five hitters in the order reaching base.
Mia Parker was hit by a pitch with the bases full before Eslick split the gap in right center to clear them and end the game.
All that offense backed Lange, who navigated a first-inning jam without damage and then settled in nicely with her team in front. After allowing the first two batters of the game to reach, she retired 11 straight Flyers and kept on rolling.
In the blanking, Lange allowed just a pair of hits and walked three with four Ks. She also helped her cause by earning three walks and scoring each time.
Ponce was 3-for-3 with a walk, plus an RBI and two runs scored, to raise her team-leading batting average to .378, while Williams recorded three hits, highlighted by her 11th long ball of the season.
Eslick's double was her A-10 leading 17th of the season, and Greco chipped in a pair of hits for her 11th multi-hit performance of the season.
Fordham 1, GW 0:Â Devon Miller and the Rams came out on top in a pitchers' duel to start the day.
Fordham scored the game's lone run in the top of the third after doubles from Amanda Carey and Brianna Pinto.
Lange was terrific in the loss, limiting the Rams to a run on three hits with six strikeouts vs. two walks. She allowed just two base runners after Pinto's RBI double with one out in the third to keep the deficit at one.
Miller was just a bit better, yielding just three hits with three Ks vs. one walk in her shutout.
GW had a base runner in five of the seven innings, including the final frame. With her team needing a run to extend the game, Parker led off the seventh with a single up the middle, but Miller retired the next three Colonials to end the game with a runner stranded on second.
Williams reached twice with a first-inning walk and a sixth-inning double, and Maddie Spell had the other hit for the Buff and Blue with a single to lead off the third.
UP NEXT:Â If necessary, the winner-take-all game will immediately follow the 10:30 a.m. start. The Buff and Blue beat Dayton twice on the tournament's final day a year ago to claim the title. They faced the Rams in the 2019 final that was canceled by rain and resulted in the teams being declared co-champs.
Alexa Williams cracked a first-inning home run, Alessandra Ponce reached base four times and Hannah Eslick's three-run double sealed the run-rule victory that sent the Buff and Blue into their third straight conference final. Sierra Lange authored her 18th career shutout in her second terrific start of the day.
Earlier, GW was edged by Fordham, 1-0. The Buff and Blue will need to beat the Rams twice on Saturday to claim their second straight conference championship title, the same path they followed en route to the crown a year ago. The opener will be a 10:30 a.m. first pitch with the time adjusted due to forecasted inclement weather.
GW 8, Dayton 0:Â The Buff and Blue piled up eight runs on 11 hits over the six innings on the way to eliminating the Flyers.
GW jumped on top quickly in its second game of the day. Lange worked a walk and then Williams blasted two-run shot over the left-center field fence.
Dayton made an early pitching change after a walk to Ponce, and she later came around to score on Maggie Greco's two-out single that made it 3-0.
In the second, the top of the order ignited a two-out rally to extend it to 4-0. Lange walked, moved up on Williams' hit and scored on an RBI single from Ponce.
That was the score in the sixth when the Buff and Blue erupted for four more to end the game. The top of the lineup was the catalyst again with the first five hitters in the order reaching base.
Mia Parker was hit by a pitch with the bases full before Eslick split the gap in right center to clear them and end the game.
All that offense backed Lange, who navigated a first-inning jam without damage and then settled in nicely with her team in front. After allowing the first two batters of the game to reach, she retired 11 straight Flyers and kept on rolling.
In the blanking, Lange allowed just a pair of hits and walked three with four Ks. She also helped her cause by earning three walks and scoring each time.
Ponce was 3-for-3 with a walk, plus an RBI and two runs scored, to raise her team-leading batting average to .378, while Williams recorded three hits, highlighted by her 11th long ball of the season.
Eslick's double was her A-10 leading 17th of the season, and Greco chipped in a pair of hits for her 11th multi-hit performance of the season.
Fordham 1, GW 0:Â Devon Miller and the Rams came out on top in a pitchers' duel to start the day.
Fordham scored the game's lone run in the top of the third after doubles from Amanda Carey and Brianna Pinto.
Lange was terrific in the loss, limiting the Rams to a run on three hits with six strikeouts vs. two walks. She allowed just two base runners after Pinto's RBI double with one out in the third to keep the deficit at one.
Miller was just a bit better, yielding just three hits with three Ks vs. one walk in her shutout.
GW had a base runner in five of the seven innings, including the final frame. With her team needing a run to extend the game, Parker led off the seventh with a single up the middle, but Miller retired the next three Colonials to end the game with a runner stranded on second.
Williams reached twice with a first-inning walk and a sixth-inning double, and Maddie Spell had the other hit for the Buff and Blue with a single to lead off the third.
UP NEXT:Â If necessary, the winner-take-all game will immediately follow the 10:30 a.m. start. The Buff and Blue beat Dayton twice on the tournament's final day a year ago to claim the title. They faced the Rams in the 2019 final that was canceled by rain and resulted in the teams being declared co-champs.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MILLER, Devon (10-10)
L: Lange, Sierra (25-8)
Batting:
2B: PINTO, Brianna 1 ; CAREY, Amanda 1
RBI: PINTO, Brianna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CAREY, Amanda 1
SB: ENOCH, Bailey 1
HBP: MARTINE, Julia 1
Batting:
2B: Williams, Alexa 1
Base Running:
HBP: Ponce, Alessandra 1
Game Leaders
lf/rf
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballUT
/ SoftballUT
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballUT
/ SoftballUT
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