Good morning! And an especially good morning to new George Mason Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Marvin Lewis! He’ll be publicly introduced today at 1:00pm ET today in Dewberry Hall and all are welcome.

⚾ A season to remember
👋 Welcome to Fairfax
​⭐ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 A Season To Remember. If you don’t think this past season was memorable, we don’t know what to say. Winning an A-10 conference title. Earning a spot in the Winston-Salem Regional. Notching the first NCAA Tournament victory in three decades. Upsetting the Big Ten Champion in the very next game.

Before we close the door on a season that was one for the history books, how about some highlights from last year that can carry us through the offseason?

💨 Fast Start: A total of eight new players put on the George Mason uniform for the first time and the Patriots still went south for their first weekend series of the season, took two out of three against Florida International on the weekend of February 17, and picked up their first series victory of the season. (Spoiler Alert: It wouldn’t be their last.)

🔥 Pitch Perfect: Redshirt freshman Konner Eaton, junior Christian Mracna, and graduate students Mason Posey and Nolan Lamere combined on a one-hitter victory on April 2 in the Patriots’ shutout over Rhode Island to win their first Atlantic 10 series of the season.

🚫 Blank Man: George Mason sophomore starter Chad Gartland turned in a complete-game shutout performance on April 8, tossing eight strikeouts to lead the Patriots to an 11-0 victory over Dayton.

⛰️ King Of The Hill: The Patriots claimed this season’s Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship on May 27 with a victory of fourth-seeded Saint Louis at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia.

💪 First Time, Long Time: Sophomore shortstop Carsen Pracht drove in a career-high five runs and sophomore starter Chad Gartland tossed another complete game to lead the Patriots to an 11-3 victory over Northeastern in an elimination game on June 3 in the Winston-Salem. The victory is the first for the Patriots in the NCAA Tournament in 31 years and second in program history.

🚀 An Upset For The Ages: Sophomore catcher Connor Dykstra drove in five runs and senior shortstop Brett Stallings knocked in the winning run to lead the Patriots to an 11-10 walk-off win over Maryland on June 4 in the Winston-Salem Regional. It was the Patriots’ first Regional Final in program history and the first time Mason has won two games in one NCAA Tournament.

🤔 PATRIOT TRIVIA

You complete me. We’ve talked quite a bit about Chad Gartland today—and for good reason! He threw two complete games in just 17 appearances this past season, one of which was in an NCAA Regional.

But there was another pitcher in the clubhouse who needs to get his roses because he’s the only Patriot who held opponents to a lower batting average than Gartland.

Who is he?

Think you got it? Scroll on down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

⭐ ONE BIG THING

Welcome to Fairfax. George Mason University will introduce Marvin Lewis as the Patriots' newest Assistant Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at an introductory press conference and luncheon this afternoon at 1:00pm ET.

The Germantown, Maryland, native boasts 15 years of athletic administrative leadership with various impressive NCAA Division I institutions. Lewis assumed senior leadership roles at Georgia Tech, University of Maryland, Georgia State, and most recently at Brown University as the school’s assistant vice president for athletics and recreation/chief operating officer.

In addition to a welcome event there will be a luncheon immediately following the program, and we hope you can join us.

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Patriot Brew? Well, the first thing you should do is thank them. The next thing you should do is subscribe here and get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 6/7

👟 Men’s & Women’s Track @ NCAA Championships (Final Round)

Thursday 6/8

👟 Men’s & Women’s Track @ NCAA Championships (Final Round)

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Ben Shields

This past year, Ben Shields led all George Mason pitchers with an opposing batting average of just .209 across 17 appearances and 80.2 innings pitched—third-best in the Atlantic 10 last season.

Have a great Wednesday, y’all.