MERION STATION, Pa. - The top-seeded George Washington Colonials scored seven runs over the third and fourth innings to defeat No. 2 Saint Joseph's, 8-0 in six innings, in the first round of the 2021 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, hosted at SJU Softball Field.

GW's Sierra Lange record five innings of scoreless work while fanning seven to hold the Hawks at bay, and the Colonials' bats came alive to do the rest.

After nine empty frames for GW spanning their game against Dayton, the A-10 Player of the Year came up big in the third inning. With two on, Cone doubled to right center, scoring Sidney Bloomfield and Amber Lotz to give GW a 2-0 lead. Alessandra Ponce executed a successful sacrifce fly to score Cone for the third run of the inning. 

Weber and Bloomfield opened up the fourth with a pair of singles, while Jessica Linquist drew the walk. The one-two punch of Cone and Lange struck again for the Colonials to open up a 7-0 lead. First, Cone singled to load the bases before Lange doubled down the left field line to clear the bases with a 3 RBI double.

Lotz singled again and Bloomfield reached on a fielder's choice before Linquist was hit by a pitch to again load the bases in the sixth. Needing just one run, Cone delivered a hit up the middle to score Lotz from third, beating the throw home for the final run of the game.

Weber came on in relief in the sixth, striking out two of the three batters faced.