March 15, 2005

Box Score

Conway, S.C. - The George Mason baseball team saw it's seven-game winning streak come to an end in an unusal fashion in the first game of a doubleheader at Coastal Carolina. For the first time in more than a year, the Patriots failed to score a run as Mason was shutout 6-0 in Conway, S.C.

The Patriots were last shutout on February 29, 2004 at No. 6 South Carolina. It took a complete game by Jake Hurry (3-1) to turn the trick this time as Hurry allowed just three hits while striking out nine. He did walk five and needed to get out of a bases loaded jam in the third and runners on second and third in the third. Two of Mason's three hits came off the bat of designated hitter Matt York with Tyler Youngs collecting the other.

York led off the game with a hit but was picked off first by Hurry. In the third, Tyler Youngs singled and York and Matt Cooksey walked before Chris Looze struck out to end the threat. In the fifth, Youngs walked and York doubled but Cooksey struck out looking to end the rally. The Patriots (10-4) didn't have another hit after York's double and Hurry retired 11 straight before a Chris Fournier walk with one out in the ninth. But Robby Jacobsen grounded into a double play to end the game.

The Chanticleers (14-3) got all the runs they would need on Chris Todd's solo home run in the third off of Mason starter Josh Morrison. Chris Raber added a solo home run in the fifth and Aaron Verrett doubled later in the inning and scored on Kevin Entsminger's single to make it 3-0. Coastal Carolina added two more in the seventh and an insurance run in the eighth.

Morrison last pitched on March 8 when he threw a complete game two-hit shutout of Virginia Tech. He was named CAA Pitcher of the Week after that performance. Against Coastal, he went six and one-third innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits with one walk and six strikeoouts. Billy Tinsley pitched one inning and Tyler Wingerd finished the final two-thirds.

The result was nothing new in the Mason-Coastal rivalry. The Chanticleers have won seven straight and 18 of the past 20. All-time, Coastal leads the series 21-6. The teams were set to square off in the second game of a doubleheader at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday.