FAIRFAX, Va. - The Saint Joseph's softball team dropped the finale of its three-game weekend series at George Mason on Saturday as the Hawks fell to the Patriots, 6-5.

Looking to take two out of three after splitting Friday's doubleheader, the Hawks (20-9, 6-2 Atlantic 10) fell behind early as the Patriots tallied three runs in the bottom of the first against starting pitcher Madison Clarke.

Saint Joseph's bounced back for a run in the top of the second as second baseman Sarah Yoos scored on a fielding error on a ball off the bat of catcher Alexis Bush.

George Mason would answer with a run in the bottom of the second, but Clarke and reliever Anna Lauterbach held the Patriots off the board over the next three innings, allowing the SJU offense to take control.

Down 4-1, the Hawks added a run in the third on a RBI triple by Brandi Harkness and another on a RBI single by Kerrie Kortmann in the fourth to bring SJU to within 4-3.

A two-run top of the fifth gave Saint Joseph's its first lead of the game, 5-4, as Yoos and Nicole Palase scored on a two run double by Nikki Alden.

Unfortunately the Patriots rallied, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth and held SJU off the board in the seventh for the win.

At the plate, Alden, Palase, Kortmann and Yoos each collected two hits apiece on the day. Lauterbach was the hard-luck loser falling to 1-2 on the season after allowing just one earned run over four innings of relief.

The Hawks return to action Tuesday at Rider at 3 p.m.