Good morning! And if you didn’t have James Taylor stuck in your head already, you will now. The Patriots are headed to the Winston-Salem Regional later this week to face off against some stacked competition. Keep scrolling for a little sneak preview of our three opponents.

⚾ Goin’ to Carolina
🏀 Woody Newton is on the way
​⭐ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Goin’ To Carolina. It’s official! George Mason Atlantic 10 Baseball champion George Mason will face top-seeded Wake Forest in the Winston-Salem Regional of the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament on Friday with the first pitch scheduled for 7:00pm ET at David F. Couch Ballpark.

In addition to the No. 1 seed Wake Forest and No. 4 seed George Mason, the Winston-Salem Regional will include No. 2 seed Maryland out of the Big Ten and No. 3 seed Northeastern from the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Winston-Salem Regional is paired with the Tuscaloosa Regional with the winners of those two regionals playing in a Super Regional next weekend.

But before we get into opponent previews, we suggest you watch George Mason’s postgame celebration huddle right after they won the A-10 title.

The Opponents At A Glance

🎩 Wake Forest is an unfamiliar opponent, having only gone up against George Mason twice in the two teams’ histories, but they’re the No. 1 team in baseball thanks in part to an ACC-leading 2.82 team ERA and six of their nine starters batting over .300.

🐢 Maryland is fresh off a Big Ten Tournament title due to being the only team in the conference with a team batting average over .300 and a bullpen that racked up 23 saves on the year.

🐺 Northeastern knows how to win. Their 44 wins is second-best in the Winston-Salem Regional, and it’s largely due to their superb defense—Husky pitchers are dealing out a team 3.52 ERA and their fielding (.977%) is best in the conference.

🔼 Giddy Up. Help is on the way. George Mason men's basketball is adding former Oklahoma State standout Woody Newton to the Patriot roster beginning in 2023-2024.

A 6-foot-9-inch guard/forward, Newton played two seasons for the Cowboys after beginning his career at Syracuse in 2020.

Despite battling adversity, the junior transfer still averaged career bests in scoring (4.3 ppg), rebounding (3.4 rpg) and minutes (17.0 mpg). He started 13 of 29 games for the Cowboys, who won 20 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

🎥 Watch highlights from his time before coming to George Mason.

🎤 Read what head coach Tony Skinn thinks of the newest Patriot.

🤔 PATRIOT TRIVIA

What about us? Alright, alright… we just spent the better part of this morning’s Brew on the accolades of other teams. Now it’s time to do a little bragging of our own.

In what statistical category did George Mason lead the Atlantic 10 in this season?

a. Strikeouts per inning pitched

b. Total home runs

c. Team ERA

d. Extra base hits per game

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

⭐ ONE BIG THING

ICYMI. George Mason finished the final day of the NCAA East Regionals this past weekend and two Patriots—senior Grace Furlong and junior Dhiambi Otete—competed in the women's triple jump.

🎙️ Head Coach Tim Nickas:

"Grace and Dhiambi capped off an exceptional season today. It was Dhiambi's second best competition of her life and Grace finished five spots higher than where she was ranked coming into the meet. They led a very strong group of triple jumpers for us this year and had a tremendous impact on the program."

📬 STICK WITH US

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 5/31

No events scheduled

Thursday 6/1

No events scheduled

Friday 6/2

⚾ Baseball vs. Wake Forest @ 7:00pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Video | Live Stats

Saturday 6/3

⚾ Baseball vs. TBD @ Winston-Salem Regional

Sunday 6/4

⚾ Baseball vs. TBD @ Winston-Salem Regional

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

c. Team ERA

No team in the Atlantic 10 was as dominant on the mound as George Mason this season—Patriot pitchers finished with a conference-leading 4.74 ERA on the year.

Have a great Wednesday, y’all.