May 26, 2003
Box Score
MANTEO, NC ... Junior right-hander Matt Prendergast tossed a one-hit shutout and struck out a career-high 14 batters to lead top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth to a 3-0 victory over No. 6 George Mason in the title game of the 2003 OBX/CAA Baseball Championship.
It was the second consecutive CAA championship for the Rams (45-11), who will be making their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past six years as they earn the CAA's automatic bid. George Mason (31-20) was making its first appearance in the championship round since 1993 and was seeking its first conference title since 1992.
Prendergast, who was selected as the tournament MVP, was one out away from the first no-hitter in CAA Tournament history, but Patriot junior Bruce Baldwin broke it up with a bloop single into shallow right field. Prendergast completed his first career shutout by getting sophomore Chris Looze to ground out to second. It was just the second one-hitter ever at the CAA Tournament, and the first since Old Dominion's Maika Symmonds limited Richmond to just one hit in 1995.
Prendergast struck out at least one batter in each of the first eight innings and fanned five straight during the seventh and eighth frames to improve to 8-0 on the season. His previous career-best for strikeouts was nine. Prior to Baldwin's hit in the ninth, the Patriots had just three baserunners in the game on a pair of fielding errors and a walk.
George Mason also got an outstanding pitching performance from its starting pitcher, senior Chris Murray. The right-hander scattered eight hits over nine innings, striking out six and walking only two. After allowing three VCU runs over the first two frames, Murray (3-6) surrendered just four hits and no runs over the final seven innings.
VCU wasted no time getting on the board as junior Eric Latura opened the game with an infield single and senior outfielder Justin Mattison followed with a two-run homer to right. The Rams made it 3-0 in the second as sophomore catcher Jeff Parrish drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on Joe Meador's double and scored on a Latura groundout. Latura was the only player in the game with more than one hit, going 3-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
It was the 11th straight victory for VCU and its 19th win in its last 20 games. With 45 overall victories, the Rams are just one shy of their school record of 46 set in 1998. VCU also extended its winning streak in the CAA Tournament to nine.
Named to the CAA All-Tournament team were Prendergast, Parrish, Mattison and pitchers Cla Meredith and Sean Marshall. Making the squad from George Mason were Looze, junior Jeff Palumbo and junior Nick Shimer. Representing UNC Wilmington were Blake Cross, Jamie Hemingway and Chip Grawey, while William & Mary's Michael Brown rounded out the squad.
