May 22, 2004

Box Score

Harrisonburg, Va. - The George Mason baseball team is nearly unbeatable when scoring six or more runs in a game but nearly wasn't quite enough on Saturday afternoon as the Patriots lost a 5-0 lead and eventually lost to James Madison, 9-7 in a Colonial Athletic Association road game.

The third inning saw the Patriots (36-15, 19-4) pound out five runs on six hits to take an early lead. Kyle Barrett and Robby Jacobsen led off with back-to-back singles and Jimmy Freund sacrificed them into scoring position. Jeff Palumbo singled home Kyle Barrett to make it 1-0. Matt Cooksey's tapper back to the mound erased Jacobsen but Chris Looze singled home Palumbo and Cooksey, who had stolen second, to make it 3-0. Nick Shimer's single put runners on the corners and Adam Innerst's triple made it 5-0.

But the Dukes (28-25, 8-15) got three back in the bottom of the inning. Matt Sluder led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. With two outs in the frame, Mike Butia was hit by a pitch and Nate Schill doubled to drive home Sluder. Mitchell Moses doubled home Butia and Schill and the game was suddenly much tighter. It got closer still after Dan Santobianco's solo homer in the bottom of the fourth.

The Patriots got a run back in the fifth as James Madison starter Brian Leatherwood loaded the bases on a walk, hit batter and infield single and he allowed Bruce Baldwin to drive home a run when he hit the senior right fielder with a pitch. That ended his day and reliever Jacob Cook got Kyle Barrett to fly out to end the inning.

George Mason starter Eric Gibbons couldn't hold the lead, though, as Davis Stoneburner singled home Schill, who had singled, and Alan Lindsey, who reached on an error. The score remained 6-6 until the seventh when Josh Morrison (7-3) allowed a leadoff single to Butia, a one-out RBI double to Moses, an RBI double to Stoneburner and an RBI single to Santobianco.

Kyle Barrett made it 9-7 with a solo homer in the eighth and the Patriots threatened in the ninth, with a two-out double by Looze and a walk by Shimer. That brought Adam Innerst to the plate with the tying run but he grounded out to third to end the threat. Cook (3-4) earned the win for the Dukes with Travis Risser earning his ninth save of the year. The Patriots are now 28-2 when scoring six or more runs in a game.

Senior Jeff Palumbo might want to forget the loss but he shouldn't forget the game. It was his 211th for the Patriots and his 210th start, both new school records. He also broke the school record for at-bats and he now has 834 during his career. He was 2 for 4 on the day, raising his average to .404, and he increased his career hits total to 271, also a school record. His 73 runs this year are a school record and he has 197 runs in his career, four shy of the school record. He is averaging 1.5 runs per game and he has at least three games remaining in the season.

Looze entered the week sixth in the nation in RBI per game with 1.38. In four games this week, he is 8 for 16 with three homers, four doubles, 12 RBI and seven runs and a 1.313 slugging percentage. He is now averaging 1.51 RBI per game which would place him second in the nation. He is three RBI from tying Kevin Burke's 19-year-old record of 80 RBI in a season.

The two teams face off again on Sunday at 1 p.m. with Brent Hitz going for the Patriots against James Madison's Bobby Lasko.