TGIF Patriots. Sunshine, warm weather and Patriots hoops in November? Sign us up.

We’ve got all the details on the upcoming trip, a new face coming to Fairfax and a pair of Patriots shooting aces on the golf course and in the classroom.

What all is stirring in today’s Brew? You don’t want to miss!

🏀 Jumpin’ In Jacksonville
🥎 Nice To Meet You
⏱ Patriot Countdown
​⭐ And much, much more!

🎉 ENTER TO WIN

FREE GEAR… WAIT, DID YOU SAY FREE GEAR?!?

That’s right, we’ve got your chance to take home official Patriots Merchandise thanks to our friend at Virginia529!

All you have to do is fill out the form and you’ve got a shot to take home an Official Patriot Baseball Hat, Long-Sleeve Mason Athletics T-Shirt, and an Official Mason Men's Basketball Jersey!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Jumpin’ In Jacksonville. November is a popular time for those up our way to head down to Florida to catch some warm weather.

Now, it’s an even better time to jump down to the Sunshine State as it was announced this week that the Patriots will be a participant in the 2023 Jacksonville Classic this November.

Mason will compete in the Coast Bracket and play a pair of games on November 19 and 20. The contests will be held on the campus of Flagler College.

Mason's potential foes in the Coast Bracket include UCF, Charlotte and South Dakota State. Both the Knights and the 49ers finished in the top-100 of the 2022-23 NET Rankings.

🔼 Fresh Winds. Any time you can add someone with over 20 years of coaching experience to a program that just won a conference title, it’s a win-win.

This week, Mason softball coach Justin Walker added Windy Thees to his coaching staff.

Thees comes to Fairfax with over 20 years of coaching experience, which included head coaching positions at Georgia College & State (1999-2005), University of Memphis (2005-11), University of Mississippi (2011-14), Utah State University (Associate Head Softball Coach, 2015-18) and Winthrop University (2018-23).

She is currently the battery coach for Great Britain's U22 softball team. She has been with the Great Britain coaching staff since 2018 and has been helping to develop softball players to compete in numerous tournaments such as the European Championships and World Championship Softball events.

A native of Mesa, Ariz., Thees was a four-year starter at both catcher and second base at Florida State from 1993-97, leading the Seminoles to three ACC Championships.

🔼 Acing the Course. An ace on a golf course is extremely rare. The percentage for an amateur golfer is 0.04%. The rest of us, it’s less than 0.01%.

This week, a pair of Mason men’s golfers were honored for acing things away from the golf course and in the classroom.

Nikita Gubenko and Milan Matneja were all named 2022-23 All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

In order to be eligible for the award, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically. In addition, they must participate in 50% of their team's competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0, and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2.

🔼 Working on the Pitch. No, we’re not talking about them working on their vocal stylings, we’re talking about the Mason women’s soccer team being back on the pitch and in exhibition action at Delaware State this week.

The Patriots warmed up for the upcoming 2023 season with an scrimmage against the Hornets on Tuesday afternoon.

Up next? The season opener in Fairfax against long-time rival Old Dominion next Thursday at 6 p.m.

We need you there!

⚾️ A NIGHT AT THE BALLPARK

Big League Company. It’s back baby!

That’s right, Mason Night at Nationals Park is back this year on Sept. 6th when they host the New York Mets.

Special ticket pricing, discounted seats and even a Mason/Nationals co-branded quarter zip pullover!

⏱ PATRIOT COUNTDOWN: 6 DAYS

We are counting down the days to start of the 2023-2024 athletic calendar with some of the best moments, stars, and much more from Mason history.

Pick Six. Rising sophomore Rachel Larsen is a local that is ready to take a step into the spotlight even more this fall.

Larsen made an immediate impact on the Patriots last year, appearing in 26 matches in her debut season, ranking fourth on the team with 147 digs. She notched double-digit digs four different times.

The libero set career-bests in assists (six) and digs (15) against Akron in just her sixth collegiate game.

Before joining the Green and Gold, she was a part at Flint Hill, where she was an All-Conference and All-State honoree and helped her team to three state championships, while recording over 1,000 career digs.

We can’t wait to see her on the court this fall!

🤔 PATRIOT TRIVIA

A Familiar Foe. Next week, the Patriots welcome long-time, in-state rival Old Dominion to Fairfax for the season opener.

The matchup will be the 29th in the series history, but first since 2019.

It’s the fifth-most meetings in any head-to-head series in program history.

How many of those previous 28 meetings has Mason won?

Got a guess?

Scroll on down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

📬 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!

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 17.

Mason is 17-9-2 against the Monarchs entering next week’s season opener.

What do you say we make it 18?

Let’s have a strong finish to the week, ya’ll!