March 12, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team extended its winning streak to six games on Saturday as the Patriots swept a doubleheader from Fairfield University, winning the opener 8-2 and taking the second game, 7-2. Eric Gibbons held Fairfield hitless until the sixth in the first game and Stacen Gant, who earned the 20th win of his Mason career, did not allow an earned run in the second games as Mason improved to 9-3 on the year. The two teams will play one game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The win in the series opener was the 1,000th in the Mason baseball program's history. That landmark was followed a few hours later by the 650th win of head coach Bill Brown's career. All those wins have come at Mason.
The Patriots were in control of the first game from their second at-bat. Mason scored twice in the inning thanks to two walks and three hits. Tyler Youngs walked and went to second on a balk before scoring on a Jimmy Freund single. Freund was thrown out stealing but the rally continued as Matt Cooksey walked, stole second and scored on a Matt York single.
Mason added two more runs in the fourth inning and once again Freund, Cooksey and York were in the middle of it. Freund led off the inning with a single to center and Cooksey walked. York hit an infield single to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Freund to score and the Stags intentionally walked Chris Fournier to load the bases. Chris Looze singled to make it 4-0 but Fairfield starter Tim Dugan worked out of the jam by striking out Adam Innerst, popping up Robby Jacobsen and getting Matt Barrett to groundout.
Gibbons, meanwhile, remained on cruise control. One runner reached on an error in the first and two more reached on walks in the third and fifth, but both were erased on double plays. The Stags finally got their first hit in the sixth on Adam Chilelli's infield single but Gibbons stranded him at first. The Patriots added insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh. In the sixth, Looze was hit by a pitch with two outs, Innerst singled and Jacobsen drove home Looze with a single to center. In the seventh, Cooksey hit a two-out triple and scored on a York RBI base hit to left.
The Stags finally got on the board against Gibbons in the eighth. Brian Rudolph led off the inning with a triple to center and Dewey Raymond followed with a single to make it 6-1.Peter Allen pinch hit and reached on a fielder's choice, erasing Raymond from the base paths. Mark Geanuleas hit what could have been an inning-ending double play but shortstop Tyler Youngs committed an error on the play, allowing both runners to be safe. After a walk to Doug Anderson, John Scaife walked to make it 6-2, ending Gibbons' day. Phil Stone came on in relief and he got Tom Arpino to groundout to end the threat.
Mason tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Looze walked and Innest singled to lead off the inning. Jacobsen's fly ball to right allowed Looze to advance to third and Casey Slattery's groundout plated Looze. Innerst, who was running on the pitch, went to third on the play and scored on a Youngs single to center.
Gibbons' final line had him allowing two runs, one earned on three hits and five walks in seven and two-thirds innings of work. He struck out three and improved to 2-2 on the year. He lowered his ERA to 4.12. Stone earned his second save of the year and he now has a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings of work. Dugan allowed five runs on 10 hits in six innings and dropped to 0-1 on the year. Reliever Dan Breen gave up three runs in two innings of work.
York was 4 for 5 in the opener with two RBI while Innerst, Jacobsen and Freund were all 2 for 5. Cooksey was 1 for 2 with three runs scored.
In the second game, Mason scored three times in the first inning to give Gant a cushion. Fournier and Looze drew back-to-back one-out walks and Innerst doubled home the game's first run. Jacobsen's grounder caught Looze off third but Casey Slattery took care of things with a two-run double that scored Innerst and Jacobsen.
Fairfield responded with a two-run inning in the top of the third to make the game tight. Tim Murphy reached on an error by shortstop Mike Genovese, who started for the first time in his three-year career. After Brian Schappert struck out looking, Murphy stole second and scored on a Jim Girolamo double to center. Doug Anderson flew out to center for the second out but Scaife followed with a double to center to score Girolamo and make it 3-2. David Soucy followed with a single but Arpino grounded out to end the threat.
Mason didn't let it stay close for long. Jacobsen singled to lead off the fifth and Slattery followed with a walk. Genovese sacrificed the runners into scoring position and Freund doubled to left to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the sixth, Fournier was hit to lead off the inning and he stole second three pitches later. Looze doubled him home to make it 6-2. After Looze was doubled off of second on a flyout to right, Jacobsen homered for the second time this year, making it 7-2.
Gant went six innings, allowing two runs, none earned, on seven hits and one walk. He struck out four and improved to 4-0 on the year. For his career, Gant is now 20-5 with a school-record .800 career winning percentage. Gant tied Danny Atcheson for second place on the career wins list. He trails only Jamie Campbell who won 23 games from 1990-93. Gant has won 17 of his past 19 decisions. He is also second on the school's career ERA list with a mark of 3.01. Bobby Walker, who pitched from 1992-93 holds the school record with a 2.98 ERA (minimum 125 innings). Gant moved past Shawn Camp into fourth place on the school's career strikeout lists, with 176. He trails Tom McGinn by 1, Kevin Kawecki by 3 and record-holder Derek Ashcraft by 20.
Innerst and Jacobsen each had two hits in the second game with Jacobsen scoring three runs. Slattery and Freund each drove in two runs in the contest.
