Feb. 27, 2005

Box Score

The George Mason baseball team attempted its second ninth-inning rally in as many days on Sunday but the Patriots came up short against Tennessee in the Hughes Brother Challenge in Wilmington, N.C. as the Volunteers held off Mason to take a 4-3 win over the Patriots.

The game had entered the bottom of the eighth knotted at 3-3, but Eli Iorg and J.P. Arencibia led off the inning with back-to-back homers off Mason starter Eric Gibbons to take a 5-3 lead. The Patriots fought back in the top of the ninth when Matt Cooksey singled with one out, went to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Chris Fournier. But Chris Looze's lined to short and the Volunteers turned the double ball to end the game and the threat, dropping Mason to 3-3 on the season.

Gibbons (0-2) had pitched well through seven innings, allowing just two earned runs and seven hits. But the effort went for naught as the Volunteers earned their third win over a Colonial Athletic Association school in as many days. Tennessee had defeated James Madison 17-0 on Friday and UNC Wilmington 1-0 on Saturday.

Joey Andrews (1-0) earned the win in relief for Tennessee. He took over for James Adkins in the seventh after Adkins retired Looze to start the inning. Chris Howell picked up his first save of the season.

Fournier, Adam Innerst, Matt York and Jimmy Freund each had an RBI for Mason while Freund went 2 for 3, the only Patriot with multiple hits in the contest.

Mason returns to action on Wednesday when the Patriots open at home against University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Game time is slated for 2:30 p.m.