Softball nabbed the series sweep over George Mason last weekend.

The Colonials (29-8, 19-1 A-10) scored a total of 14 runs in four games while conceding eight runs to top the Patriots (14-16, 9-15 A-10). The squad remains undefeated at home in conference play this season, garnering their 12th home win after the weekend.

The Colonials opened the sweep with a doubleheader on Saturday. GW edged the Patriots 4–3 in the first game before following it up with a 2–0 victory. The team sent the Patriots packing with a 3–1 win on Sunday, followed by a close 5–4 finish in the afternoon.

Senior outfielder Sidney Bloomfield said the team’s success at home ultimately comes from their sense of “camaraderie” and “spirit” on game day.

“Our energy is bar none,” Bloomfield said. “We have a lot of fun in that dugout and on the field, so I think that’s what brings it all at home.”

Game 1:

The Colonials slipped past George Mason in a 4–3 victory after surviving a Patriot resurgence in the seventh.

Bloomfield hit a lead off double in the third, followed by a score off a sacrifice fly from redshirt junior utility player Sierra Lange. Just an inning later, Bloomfield cracked an RBI triple to put the Colonials up by two.

Senior utility player Alessandra Ponce also hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to prompt utility player and pinch runner sophomore Darbie Stancil home.

The Patriots battled back in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs in total to tie the game. Senior outfielder Meghan Graham hit an RBI double followed by a two-run single from freshman outfielder Sydney Bales.

Ponce hit a single in the bottom of the seventh to bring graduate student infielder Jenna Cone back home and nab the win.

“This was one of the weekends that we’ve seen ourselves in closer games than before,” Bloomfield said. “So it was huge for us to come back and fight our way through some of these games and come out with the wins all weekend long.”

Lange held a shutout through the first six innings on the day after retiring the first 11 batters she faced, giving up just three runs on six hits.

Game 2:

The Colonials overcame the Patriots yet again in a 2–0 showing.

GW fell into a scoring drought in the first four innings despite loading the bases in the third and fourth. Lange snapped the cold streak in the fifth with her seventh homer of the season to send Stancil home and set a new career high.

Graduate student utility player Faith Weber tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts while conceding just three hits on the day to earn the shutout victory. Lange also snatched a line drive and heaved it home to intercept a Patriot runner in the fourth to keep the game scoreless.

Game 3:

GW beat the Flyers 3–1 to set the tone in the opening game of Sunday’s doubleheader.

After conceding an RBI single in the first, the Colonials responded with two runs of their own as Cone and graduate student utility player Jessica Linquist ran across the plate after groundouts from Ponce and freshman pitcher Alexa Williams.

Linquist padded the lead just an inning later with an RBI double to usher senior infielder Hannah Eslick home, but neither side could generate much offense for the rest of the game.

“We didn’t swing the bat as well as we should have this week, and we left a lot of runners on base,” head coach Shane Winkler said. “But anytime you’re putting yourself in a position to possibly score, we know we’re doing things well. Offensively, we did have a lot of hard hit-outs that could have produced a lot more runs, so we swung the bat even better than what the scoreboard said.”

Despite giving up a run in the first, Lange closed out the game with a total of 14 strikeouts to smother any attempt at a comeback and match a career high.

Game 4:

The Colonials completed the series sweep, edging the Patriots in a 5–4 win to remain undefeated at home in conference play.

Cone kicked off the scoring in the first, driving a two-run homer to the opposite field to notch her 15th of the season. Lange and Ponce also reached home plate to give the Colonials an early 4–0 lead.

The Patriots managed to tally an unearned run in the second inning, off a double from Bales. The Colonials responded in the third off a sacrifice fly from Eslick as Weber dove home.

George Mason found some momentum in the sixth beginning with another double from Bales that helped cut the lead to two. Senior pitcher Haellie Gordon smashed a solo homer in the top of the seventh to pull the Patriots within one.

The Colonials were ultimately able to bear the strain as Lange tagged in to close out the game, allowing just one hit. Graduate student infielder Amber Lotz made a diving grab with two outs and a runner on second to secure the Colonial victory.

“We’re just staying composed, we made a pitching change and went back to Sierra,” Winkler said. “It’s the hottest day we’ve had all year, so Faith was running out of gas a little bit in the seventh inning there, but really we just needed to make a change and shut it down there, which we did.”

Weber collected a total of eight strikeouts to earn her 12th win of the season.

The Colonials will hit the road for their final series of conference play next Saturday against St. Bonaventure. First pitch is scheduled for noon.