April 3, 2004
Box Score
The chink in the armor of the George Mason baseball season has been the Patriots' performance in the late innings of close games. Entering this weekend's three game series with Old Dominion, the Patriots were 1-2 in one-run games and 5-8 when scoring seven runs on fewer. On Saturday, both those trends gave way as the Patriots defeated Old Dominion 4-3 in nine innings and 7-4 in seven innings.
The day ended in dramatic fashion when Chris Looze hit a towering three-run home run to centerfield with one out in the bottom of the seventh to break a 4-4 tie and send the Patriots to 5-0 in Colonial Athletic Association action. Looze was 4 of 7 on the day and had six RBI. His single in the bottom of the fifth tied the game at 4-4 and his single in the seventh of the first game proved to be the difference in that contest.
The Patriots (17-9, 5-0 CAA) and Monarchs (12-15, 2-3 CAA) were forced to play a doubleheader when Friday's series-opener was rained out. That gave Old Dominoin starter Justin Verlander and extra day of rest. The righthander is projected to be a first-round pick in this springs Major League Baseball amateur draft and he showed off his velocity early. Eventually, though, the George Mason hitters figured things out.
Jeff Palumbo was 2 for 2 in the first game, scoring two runs. In the third, he drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, went to third on yet another wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Looze. In the fifth, Robby Jacobsen lead off the inning with a homer to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead. Old Dominion had scored in the top of the third to briefly take a 1-0 lead on a Keith Hahn double and Nick Shimer error.
The Patriots made it 3-1 in the sixth when Shimer led off with a double and Jacobsen drove him home. Old Dominion struck back against George Mason starter Eric Gibbons in the top of the seventh with a Brandon Carter single, Kenneth Gram sacrifice and Evan Chipman double. The Patriots made it 4-2 in the bottom of the frame when Palumbo was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Bruce Baldwin sacrificed him over and Looze singled home Palumbo, who had advanced to third on a wild pitch. Verlander finished the day allowing four runs on six hits in seven innings with two walks, nine strikeouts, three wild pitches and three hit batsmen.
Eric Gibbons got one out in the eighth before giving way to Jason Mills, who pitched the final one and two-third innings for his first save of the year. Mills allowed just one hit and struck out two. Gibbons allowed just two earned runs on 10 hits with one walk and three strikeouts and he improved to 3-3 on the year. The win was the 650th in NCAA Division I play for George Mason.
The second game saw George Mason ace Stacen Gant take the mound and as is often the case, he needed some time to find his rhythm. Gant allowed a run in the first when Keith Hahn hit a bloop double just over the head of Shimer and a ground out by Chipman and sacrifice by Carter brought him home. The Patriots made it 1-1 when Adam Innerst led off the second with a homer to left. Old Dominion responded in the top of the third when Eric Mesa led off with a single, Hahn sacrificed him to second and Chipman's grounder went through the legs of Palumbo. Baldwin tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when he led off with a homer to left field.
The Monarchs took a 4-2 lead in the fifth when Belcher walked, Mesa singled to score him and Palumbo committed a throwing error on a Hahn grounder. The Monarchs made a blunder of their own in the field in the bottom of the fifth to help even things. With one out, Jimmy Freund walked and Matt Cooksey singled to break a 2-for-28 slump. Palumbo reached on a fielder's choice that put runners on the corners with two outs and that's when Baldwin's grounder was mishandled by Carter to allow Freund to score. Looze followed with his game-tying RBI single.
Gant went the distance, allowing two earned runs, five hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out one to improve to 6-0 on the season. Gant has won seven straight since a 7-6 loss at Delaware on April 19, 2003.
Both Innerst and Palumbo had 13-game hitting streaks snapped on Saturday as Innerst failed to hit safely in the first contest while Palumbo, was kept hitless in the second game, despite scoring twice.
The Patriots will start sophomore Brent Hitz on Sunday while Old Dominion is expected to send Dana Arrowood to the mound. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
