Good morning! And an extra hearty good morning to Coach Peter Ward—the first men’s and women’s swimming & diving head coach in George Mason history is retiring after 25 years of service.

34 All-American athletes. 103 CAA champions. 28 A-10 champions. 18 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champions. 15 Olympic Trial qualifiers. 2 SEC title winners. What a career.

What else are we tossing into today’s Brew?

⚾ Patriots go down to the wire last night
🥎 A year to remember
​⭐ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Down To The Wire. Back home for good. George Mason won 4-3 over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in their final road game of the season at the Parker Athletic Complex in Salisbury, Maryland. The Patriots have won six straight games and 11 of their last 14—with last night’s victory coming thanks to freshman Michael Salina notching his first collegiate save.

Leading the way for George Mason? Derek Wood went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Bennett Shealor was 2-for-3 with a run scored, and Carsen Pracht finished 1-for-3 with his second home run of the season.

George Mason hosts Saint Joseph's for a three-game series beginning tomorrow with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00pm ET Spuhler Field.

🔼 A Year To Remember. George Mason softball is riding high after winning their first Atlantic-10 Conference Championship title after 35 victories—the second-most wins ever in program history. But before we get into Friday’s game against No. 8 Duke in the Durham Regional, we thought we’d celebrate some program records and national accolades the Patriots set this year.

(And our condolences to the person who’s in charge of George Mason media guides, because they will be busy this summer rewriting the record books…)

✍️ New Program Records:

• Home Runs - 27 (Old record: 22 in 2015)

• Runs Batted In - 224 (Old record: 212 in 1995)

• Doubles - 90 (Old record: 79 in 2002)

• Stolen Bases - 133 (Old record: 96 in 2004 & 1995)

• Slugging percentage - .416 (Old record: .374 in 2015)

• Walks - 184 (Old record: 159 in 1995)

• Fielding percentage - .978 (Old record: .964 in 2021)

• Pitcher strikeouts - 353 (Old record: 337 in 2000)

🔦 Entering The National Spotlight:

Nationally, the Patriots as a team are ranked eighth in the country in total stolen bases (131). Individually, third baseman Haley Taormina leads in the nation in doubles (21) and is third in doubles per game (0.37). Left fielder Elyssa DeRosa is second in the nation in triples (8) and is fourth in triples per game (0.17).

🤔 PATRIOT TRIVIA

First time, long time. We mentioned above that George Mason softball reached the 35-win mark this year, the second-most in program history.

Our question today—what’s the single-season program record for wins by the Patriots? (Bonus points if you know the year!)

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

⭐ ONE BIG THING

A Living Legend. George Mason University Men' s and Women's Swimming and Diving Head Coach Peter Ward has announced his retirement after starting the program 25 years ago.

Hired in the fall of 1998, Ward built a Division I program and led the men's and women's teams to several team titles in two different conferences.

"What I am most proud of is the great things we were able to accomplish as a program and the amazing people who have been a part of it," Ward said. "We were able to do more with less through commitment, hard work and trust that are to this day, the core values of both the athletes and the coaches."

📬 STICK WITH US

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📅 THE DAYS AHEAD

Wednesday 5/17

No events scheduled

Thursday 5/18

⚾ Baseball vs. St. Joseph’s University @ 3:00pm ET | Live Stats

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 40

Listen, 35 wins is an accomplishment but George Mason softball racked up an astonishing 40 victories back in 2002.

Have a great Wednesday, y’all.