April 21, 2004
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team earned its 25th win of the year on Wednesday night and the victory came in just their 35th outing as the Patriots defeated Coppin State, 10-7. George Mason needed runs in the late innings to grab the victory, the 300th win at Spuhler Field. The Patriots are now 37-1 all-time against Coppin State.
George Mason (25-10) scored a run in the first and two more in the third for a 3-0 lead. The opening run came on an Adam Innerst double that brought home Chris Looze, who had drawn a two-out walk. The runs in the third came on RBI singles by Robby Jacobsen and Kyle Barrett. But the Eagles (13-28) weren't about to roll over, scoring three in the fourth, three in the fifth and one in the sixth to stake a 7-3 lead.
The runs in the fourth came when Teon Richburg singled to left to score Nick Wenger. Graham Johnson also scored on the play when the ball got past Innerst in left. Richburg made it 3-3 on an Eddie Wilson ground out. Coppin State took the lead in the fifth when Brian Bullock led off with a double and Amiel Traynum singled to send him to third. A ground out by Corey Green made it 4-3 and a wild pitch allowed Amiel Trynym to score. The Eagles added two more runs before the Patriots had had enough.
A five run sixth inning put the Patriots back on top as Barrett triggered the rally with a lead off single and Jimmy Freund took the cue with an RBI triple. Matt Cooksey walked and Jeff Palumbo's bunt single scored Freund. Bruce Baldwin sacrificed the runners into scoring position and Cooksey and Palumbo each scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. The inning wasn't over, though, as Looze walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Nick Shimer's double. Two insurance runs were added in the seventh when Baldwin singled home Cooksey and Josh Campbell, who was pinch running for Barrett.
Palumbo was 3 for 5 in the game, raising his team-leading batting average to .401. Innerst, Hacobsen and Barrett each had two hits. Jake Glanzmann started for the Patriots, but he didn't make it out of the fifth inning. Mike Puckli came on in relief and he earned the win to even his record at 1-1. Ryan Carroll was the losing pitcher for Coppin State as he allowed three runs in one and one-third innings to drop to 2-5. Wenger paced Coppin State with a 3 for 5 afternoon while Johnson was 2 for 4.
With 25 wins in their first 35 games, it is the second-fastest that the Patriots have gotten to 25 wins. In 1993 and in 1976 (when George Mason competed on the NAIA level) the Patriots began the year with 27 wins in their first 35 games. In 1993, the Patriots went on to the NCAA Tournament. It was the last time George Mason played past the CAA Tournament.
Next up for George Mason is a critical three-game set with Virginia Commonwealth. The Rams have been the dominant team in the CAA the past seven years, winning the conference title four times and going to the NCAA Tournament five times. The Patriots are currently in first place in the conference (11-1 record) with a two-game lead over VCU. This weekend's games will be played at Spuhler Field with start times set for 3 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
