May 19, 2003
OBX/CAA Baseball Championship Coverage
FAIRFAX, VA ... The George Mason baseball team enters the 2003 OBX/Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Championship in Manteo, NC, this week as the No. 6 seed and will face top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth in the opening game at Coy Tillett Memorial Field Wednesday at 12 p.m.
George Mason (28-18, 9-8 CAA) became the sixth seed for the tournament when its final three-game series with William & Mary was rained out last weekend. The Patriots needed to win two of the three games to gain the No. 5 seed, but it was not to be.
In other first-round games Wednesday, second-seeded UNC Wilmington (36-19, 15-6 CAA) meets No. 5 Towson (28-23, 11-9 CAA) at 3:30 p.m. and No. 3 William & Mary (30-18, 12-4 CAA) faces fourth-seeded James Madison (29-25, 13-7 CAA) at 7 p.m. The double-elimination tournament continues through Saturday.
The Patriots were swept in the season series by Virginia Commonwealth (41-11, 17-3 CAA), losing all three games at The Diamond in Richmond by scores of 9-1, 3-0 and 3-1 on May 4-5. The shutout loss in the second game of a doubleheader May 4 was the only time George Mason was blanked this season and the first time in 91 contests.
Senior left-hander John Sterling, who pitched a complete game and allowed just six hits and two earned runs in that game, will take the mound against the Rams once again Wednesday. Sterling led the Patriots this season with a 6-4 record, a 3.44 earned run average and 65 strikeouts in 86 1/3 innings.
The Patriots need to win one game at the OBX/CAA Baseball Championship to give head coach Bill Brown his 600th career victory. Brown enters the tournament with a mark of 599-551-5 in his 22 seasons at the helm of the George Mason program, and Wednesday is his 46th birthday. Mason defeated VCU, 8-0, to give Brown his 500th career victory on his 42nd birthday on May 21, 1999, at the CAA Tournament in Kinston, NC.
For complete tournament coverage and links to audio broadcasts of each game, visit the tournament web page at CAAsports.com.
