photo courtesy of Mark Campbell

Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore

FAIRFAX, Va. -- The George Mason softball team put a dent in Delaware’s hopes for an appearance in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament as the Patriots swept a doubleheader from the Blue Hens, 3-1 and 10-4, Saturday afternoon.

Delaware, which entered the day one game out of the fourth and final playoff spot in the conference, dropped to 20-18 overall and 6-9 in the league following the pair of losses. Mason began the day winless in the CAA before improving to 16-29 overall and 2-15 in conference play.

In the opener George Mason scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the third inning. Meghan Hill led off with a single to left, and one out later she went to second on an infield single by Alison Bryan. Rachael Davies then singled to rightcenter, driving home Hill and moving Bryan to third.

Morgan Davis followed with a double down the leftfield line to plate Bryan, while Davies crossed the plate when Becky Anderson laced an RBI single to leftcenter. The Patriots still had runners on the corners with one out, but Blue Hen pitcher Amanda Stacevicz prevented more damage by getting Miranda Cranford to pop out to first and Anush Mooradian to ground out to end the inning.

The Blue Hens got on the board in the top of the fourth when Kim Ovittore worked a two-out walk and came around to score when Michelle Kenney followed with an RBI double down the leftfield line.

Delaware mounted a rally in the seventh, as singles by Kenney and Shanette White put runners on first and second with one out. However Anderson, Mason’s starting pitcher, got Amanda Nyisztor to ground into a double play to end the game.

Anderson improved to 8-19 after allowing one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts, while Stacevicz dropped to 9-9 as she gave up three earned runs on 11 hits while striking out four and not walking a batter.

Kenney led the Blue Hen attack by going 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, while Katie DeSalvo and White each added singles for Delaware.

The Patriots put the nightcap away early by scoring nine runs in the bottom of the first inning off Delaware starter Anne Marie Pagano. Mason had the bases loaded with one out when consecutive RBI singles by Anderson, Cranford, Mooradian and Stephanie Strother gave the Patriots a 4-0 lead.

Pagano then fielded a groundball hit by Hill and forced Cranford out at home for the second out of the inning, but Alyssa See drilled a two-run single to centerfield to make it a six-run game. Bryan then followed with a run-scoring double to left, while Davies capped the rally with a two-run single to rightfield.

Mason added a run in the bottom of the third when Strother led off with a single to leftfield, advanced to second on a passed ball, went to third on a sacrifice by Hill, and scored when See reached on a fielder’s choice.

Delaware got on the board in the fourth as Quinn Megargel led off with a single to shortstop, and after she stole second, she went to third when the throw by Patriots catcher Kara Weiner was wild. Megargel then scored on a wild pitch to make it a 10-1 game.

Rachel Jones led off the fifth with an infield single, and after she advanced to second on a wild pitch, she went to third on a single to left by Nyisztor. Jones then scored on an RBI groundout by DeSalvo, while Mary Ann Magee singled up the middle to drive home Nyisztor (at right) and cut the Blue Hens’ deficit to seven.

Delaware scored its final run in the seventh when Nyisztor led off with a double to rightcenter and scored on a two-out double to left by Megargel.

Cranford pitched the first six innings for Mason and allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits to improve to 7-7 on the year. Pagano, who fell to 11-8 this season, gave up 10 runs, nine earned, on 11 hits.

Nyisztor went 3 for 3 with two runs scored for the Blue Hens, while Megargel was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Delaware and Mason conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a single game beginning at 12 noon.