Feb. 26, 2004
The George Mason baseball team started the season like gangbusters last week and the offensive explosion didn't go unnoticed. The Patriots not only stood at the top of the Colonial Athletic Association standings, they also had a member earn co-Player of the Week honors as Jeff Palumbo split the honor after batting .600 with nine runs scored during the 3-0 start.
This week, the Patriots will be hoping to maintain that momentum with a big challenge on the horizon. A road trip to Columbia, S.C. brings with it games against Radford, Duquesne and nationally-ranked South Carolina.
The Patriots will face Radford University on Friday at noon. They are 2-1 all-time against the Highlanders who are 0-3 this year, having been swept last weekend at Duke. They struggled both offensively and defensively in that series, hitting .198 as a team with an 8.62 earned run average. Alan Ashworth was the lone bright spot as the junior second baseman hit .462. None of the starters had an ERA better than 7.50.
On Saturday, also at noon, the Patriots will take on Duquesne University in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Dukes have yet to play a game this year and they will begin the season with a difficult task, facing the University of South Carolina.
The Gamecocks are George Mason's opponent on Sunday and they are off to a 6-0 start and are ranked No. 6 in the most recent Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 7 in Baseball America's top 25. They are 5-0 all-time against the Patriots, sweeping a three-game set in 2001, the last time the teams met.
Like George Mason, South Carolina is capable of some big offensive numbers. It swept a season-opening series against Charleston Southern, winning the first game, 3-2 and the final game, 3-0. In between, the Gamecocks took a 38-0 win, hitting .574 in the game with seven home runs and 35 hits. They followed that series up by hosting UNC-Wilmington last weekend, sweeping those games by a combined score of 39-7.
The Gamecocks are hitting .409 this year with Brendan Winn and Steve Pearce hitting .611 and .609, respectively. Their staff ERA is 1.50 and their starter's ERA is 1.70.
The Patriots also scored 39 runs last week, beating Gardner-Webb, 12-8, Marshall, 11-4, and College of Charleston, 16-4. They are batting .339 with five players batting .300 or better. The George Mason staff ERA is 4.33 but the starters ERA is 3.00.
George Mason head coach Billy Brown feels like those offensive numbers are something that fans might see a lot.
"We expect to play that way and be productive each and every time we take the field," Brown said.
Sunday's game will pit George Mason sophomore lefthander Eric Gibbons (1-0, 1.59 ERA, 4K, 5.2 IP) against South Carolina junior lefthander Matt Campbell (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10K, 6 IP).
