Softball Drops Close Contest to George Mason

Sunday, March 6

Fairfax, VA

11:15 AM

Army West Point

7-8

George Mason

5-4

Army

George Mason

Softball Drops Close Contest to George Mason

March 06, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. – The Army West Point softball team dropped a close 2-1 contest to George Mason in the final game of the Patriot Classic Sunday afternoon. The Cadets went 3-2 at the tournament.

"I thought today and the entire weekend was a great learning experience for the team.=," said head coach Michelle DePolo. "Each weekend of play thus far has brought along new scenarios and situations we need become proficient with as the season gets moves along, and this weekend was no exception. The situations we faced this weekend will pay dividends to our success in the future if we can learn and adjust moving forward."

The Black Knights (7-8) picked up a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Alee Rashenskas made it on base due to an error by the Patriots (5-4). She then stole second and scored for the Cadets off of a passed ball.

Army clinched three quick outs with a strikeout from Renee Poirier, a groundout to Rashenskas and a foul ball caught by Maddie Kim.

George Mason converted two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead and essentially win the contest fueled by a two-run single to first base by Seymour.

Neither team made it to scoring position for the rest of the game to help the Patriots win 2-1.

The Patriots held Army hitless through seven innings and notched four hits of their own. Gaff had a season-high 13 putouts, while Kasey McCravey tallied six assists.

"This weekend our pitchers were tremendous and overall our defense did a great job behind them," added DePolo. "Our offense wasn't quite as productive but we still found ways to scrape runs across. Despite the hard loss to George Mason we scored a run on only three base runners the entire game.

"Close losses, especially late inning losses, are always a hard pill to swallow but we just need to learn from these experiences moving forward as our team continues to take shape."

The Black Knights will be back in action March 11-16 when they travel to Clearwater, Fla., for the team's annual spring break trip.

For up-to-date information about Army softball, please follow @ArmyWP_Softball on Twitter and Instagram.