NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – George Washington won the Atlantic 10 Softball Regular Season, finishing with a 23-1 (.958) record in league play and will be the No. 1 seed for the upcoming 2021 A-10 Softball Championship. Saint Joseph's will be seeded second and will serve as host for the championship, which begins Thursday at SJU Softball Field.
 
The Colonials finished with just one loss against A-10 foes and were 33-8 overall. GW is led at the plate by Jenna Cone, who batted .421 this season with 17 home runs and Sierra Lange's .410 batting average with 17 extra base hits. Lange also was the key GW pitcher, with a 1.83 ERA, 17 complete games  and 170 strikeouts.
 
GW will open the championship against No. 4 Dayton Thursday at 11:00 am. The Flyers finished the season at 14-8 in league play and were 19-24 overall. Megan Ward led the Dayton offense with a .422 batting average and 62 hits, and Abby Ehrenborg, who batted .345 with a team-high 16 homers. Addy Bullis was the Flyer leader in the circle, with a 1.97 ERA, and 11-6 record and 107 strikeouts.
 
Second-seeded Saint Joseph's was 19-3 in league play and 26-18 overall. The Hawks are led by Amanda Herr in the circle with a 3.07 ERA, 57 strikeouts and an 11-5 record. Offensively SJU is led by Kirstin Cox who batted .438 with 57 hits and 17 stolen bases, and Caela Abadie's .393 average with 14 home runs and 24 extra base hits.
 
SJU will face third-seeded Fordham beginning Thursday at 1:30 pm. Fordham was 17-3 in conference and 36-8 overall and was paced by Devon Miller in the circle with a 1.45 ERA and 149 strikeouts with 13 wins. Brianna Pinto batted .429 to lead the Rams, with 51 hits, 25 RBI and 28 stolen bases. Michaela Carter batted .348 with 40 hits and 18 RBI.
 
The winners of the two first round games will advance to meet in the semifinals, which will be played Friday, May 14 at noon. The two losing teams from the first round will play in the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament. The winner of that game will face the loser of the winner's bracket semifinal. The championship game will be played at noon on Saturday, May 15.
 
Limited fan attendance will be permitted, based on family and friends of the official travel party. All games of the A-10 Softball Championship will be aired on ESPN+. For watch links, result, photos and more visit Softball Championship Central at atlantic10.com.