March 20, 2004

Box Score

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Stacen Gant had pitched some solid games already in 2004 for the George Mason baseball team, but on Saturday, he delivered his opus, striking out a career-high 13, walking none and allowing just one run and six hits as he went the distance to defeat William & Mary, 4-1 in Colonial Athletic Association action.

Gant (5-0) faced 31 batters in the game, going to three balls just once and two balls only twice. He threw 116 pitches and 89 of those (77 percent) were for strikes. He went to two strikes on 21 batters and was one shy of tying the school record for strikeouts in a game, set by Derek Ashcraft in 1999.

The Patriot hitters gave Gant all he would need with three runs in the first inning. Matt Cooksey led off the inning with a walk and with two outs, Chris Looze drove him home with a double to left for a 1-0 lead. Nick Shimer followed with a double to right to make it 2-0 and Adam Innerst doubled to left to make it 3-0. Only a sensational catch by centerfielder Terry Revere on a ball hit by Robby Jacobsen kept the floodgates from opening wider.

The Patriots (12-5, 2-0 CAA) added their final run in the third when Bruce Baldwin led off with a single, went to second on a Looze ground out, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Shimer.

The Tribe (16-5, 0-2) got their lone run in the top of the fourth . Chris Rahl singled to center and stole second. He went to third on Mike DeCarlo's single and scored when DeCarlo was thrown out trying to steal second.

Gant proceeded to retire 13 of the next 14 batters and struck out the side in the fifth, the second time in the game he accomplished that feat.

Baldwin was 2 for 4 in the game while Shimer was 1 for 1 with two RBI. Jon Rhymes was the only William & Mary player with more than one hit as he was 2 for 4. Forrest Cory (3-2) picked up the loss, his second on the day. Prior to Saturday's regularly-scheduled contest, the two teams completed Friday's suspended game. Cory pitched the 13th and 14th innings of that game, taking the loss. In the regularly-scheduled affair, he went four and two-third innings, allowing all four earned runs, four walks and six hits while striking out just one.

The win extended George Mason's school-record home winning streak to 17 games. That streak will be severely tested in the next two contests, William & Mary on Sunday in the conclusion of the three-game series, and nationally-ranked Virginia on Wednesday.