Good morning! And an especially good morning to the 11 Patriots who qualified for the NCAA East Regional starting next week across five different events. They’ll be traveling down to the Sunshine State to start competition on Wednesday.

What else are we tossing into today’s Brew?

⚾ Down to the wire
🥎 Put up your Dukes
​⭐ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Down To The Wire. George Mason baseball fell to Saint Joseph's by a score of 9-4 in the first game of the series yesterday afternoon at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, Virginia

Leading the way yesterday? Derek Wood went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Jordan Smith was 2-for-3 with two walks and one RBI, and Connor Dykstra finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.

The Patriots and Hawks play the middle game of the series on Friday with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00pm ET at Spuhler Field.

🔼 Put Up Your Dukes. George Mason softball is set to make its NCAA postseason debut against host and eighth-seeded Duke this afternoon. You can catch the game on ESPN+ and first pitch is at 12:00pm ET.

The Durham Regional features Big South Tournament Champions Campbell and Conference USA Regular Season Champion Charlotte, who will face off after the Patriots and Blue Devils finish dancing.

So, how does George Mason match up against Duke? And what about the other two opponents in the field?

🔦 Shining A Light On Duke

The hosts have faced both Campbell and Charlotte during the regular season and hold a 3-0 ledger against the in-state foes. The Blue Devils are led by All-ACC First-Team pitcher Cassidy Curd, who holds a 16-1 record and became the first player in program history to reach 100-plus strikeouts in their debut season and now sits at 136 on the year. Ana Gold, another First Team selection, set the Duke single-season home run record with 18 and leads the team in RBIs (54) and runs per game (0.93).

Player To Watch: D'Auna Jennings paces the Blue Devil's lineup with a .453 batting average and 19 stolen bases and has started in 53 of 54 games this year.

⛏️ Mining Out The Details

Charlotte enters the Durham Regional as the No. 2 seed after winning its first-ever outright regular season conference championship. The Niners were led in the circle by Sam Gress, who led the team with a 21-12 record, with a 1.81 ERA, and 140 strikeouts over 205.1 innings. All in all, the Niners broke out the big stick all season, setting a new school record for most home runs hit in a single season with 74.

Player To Watch: Kassidy Krupit led the Niners with a .383 batting average, while also leading the team in hits (67), RBI (48), and doubles (12).

🥣 Soup’s On

Campbell takes the in-state trip to Durham after winning its third-straight Big South championship, having shared the Big South Regular season title with a 15-5 record and nine Big South all-conference honorees, including the Pitcher of the Year and the Freshman of the Year. Isabella Smith became the program single-season strikeout leader and ranks ninth in the nation with 235 strikeouts on the year. Freshman Madilyn Gillespie ranks fourth on the team with a .325 batting average and led the league in the regular season with a .491 on base percentage.

Player To Watch: Claudia Ware leads the team with a .375 batting average, 37 runs, 60 hits, 20 doubles and 83 total bases.

🤔 PATRIOT TRIVIA

The number of the day. Happy May 19th, everyone. We know we’re a few months away from George Mason basketball tipping off for the next season, but… we’re feeling a little impatient here.

Our question today—and shameless plug of the number 19—who was the opponent that the Patriots beat by 19+ points last year?

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

⭐ ONE BIG THING

Three Cheers. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced that three Patriots were named to the Mid-Atlantic All-Region Second Team—grad student Aly Rayle, senior Haley Taormina, and redshirt junior Nicole Bechtel.

The trio led the Patriots' team to the second-most wins ever in program history with 35 total wins, tying the 1981 team. The Patriots earned its first-ever conference championship this season while setting a new Mason record for most conference wins in a season with 16.

📬 STICK WITH US

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📅 THE DAYS AHEAD

Friday 5/19

🥎 Softball vs. Duke @ 12:00pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Video | Live Stats

⚾ Baseball vs. St. Joseph’s University @ 2:00pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Video | Live Stats

Saturday 5/20

⚾ Baseball vs. St. Joseph’s University @ 1:00pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Video | Live Stats

Sunday 5/21

No scheduled events

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Coppin State

It was a very merry Christmas Eve Eve when George Mason won 91-53 over Coppin State last December 23rd.

Have a good Friday and an even better weekend, y’all.