April 25, 2004
Box Score
Any doubts about whether or not the George Mason baseball team was for real this season can officially be put to rest. Facing the premier team in the Colonial Athletic Association, the Patriots took 2 of 3 from Virginia Commonwealth, winning the series behind a 5-1 victory on Sunday at Spuhler Field. Brent Hitz retired the first 12 batters and allowed just one run on four hits in six innings while matching his career high with five strikeouts. Bruce Baldwin was 3 for 4 with two doubles and a triple and he scored twice as George Mason now has a three-game lead over second-place VCU in the CAA standings.
The Rams (26-16, 10-5) had won seven straight CAA series heading into the weekend and after they won the series opener, 7-1, things looked good for them to extend that to eight. But Stacen Gant shut them down on Saturday, allowing just two hits in a shutout, and Hitz picked up right where he left off. Hitz (3-0) was dominant in the early going and VCU couldn't break through until the fifth. A leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly tied the game at 1-1 but the Rams wouldn't muster any more offense the rest of the day. Josh Morrison pitched two scoreless innings in relief, facing the minimum, and Jason Mills threw a perfect ninth.
The Patriots (27-11, 13-2) scored first when they pushed across a run in the third. Baldwin led off with a double, went to second on a Jeff Palumbo bunt single, and scored on Matt Cooksey's sacrifice fly. After VCU tied the game, the Patriots once again took the lead, and once again it start with a Baldwin lead off double. Cooksey reached on a one-out error that put runners on the corners and Chris Looze's sacrifice fly gave the Patriots the lead for good.
George Mason added three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, all unearned. Adam Innerst walked and Cla Meredith came on to relieve VCU starter Matt Prendergast (8-1). Nick Shimer proceeded to reach on an error that put runners on the corners and Kyle Barrett made them pay with a single to right. After Robby Jacobsen struck out, Jimmy Freund's squeeze bunt scored Shimer to make it 4-1. Bruce Baldwin followed with a triple to make it 5-1.
The Patriots got some sweet revenge against Prendergast. Not only did they hand the senior his first loss of the year, they also paid him back a little for his performance in last year's CAA title game. The Patriots were no-hit through eight and two-thirds innings last year and lost the championships game 3-0 behind Prendergast's shutout.
The Patriots can breath a little easier after improving their lead to three games in the conference standings. They've faced the second-, third- and fifth-place teams and run off a 7-2 mark against them. The remaining teams on the conference schedule have a combined 16-22 record in conference play.
Jeff Palumbo and Nick Shimer extended their hitting streaks to 12 games. They will look to make it 13 straight when the Patriots take on Georgetown on the road on Tuesday at 7 p.m. That game will be played in Bethesda, Maryland.
