March 20, 2005

Box Score

Williamsburg, Va. - The George Mason baseball team overcame a five-run deficit scoring 15 of the game's final 18 runs, pounding out 20 hits en route to a 17-10 win over William & Mary in Colonial Athletic Association action. The Patriots fell behind 7-2 after five innings before exploding for four runs in the sixth, four in the eighth and six in the ninth to improve to 2-0 in the CAA and 12-5 on the year.

Mason starter Stacen Gant had his worst outing of the season but the hitters saved him from suffering his first loss of the year. He allowed six earned runs in five innings with just two strikeouts. Matt Cooksey, Adam Innerst and Matt Barrett each had four hits while Cooksey and Chris Looze each had four RBI. Innerst had a solo home run in the seventh that tied the game at 7-7 and Looze had a three-run home run in the eighth that put Mason ahead for good.

The Patriots jumped out early with two runs in the first. Matt York led off the game with a double and Matt Cooksey beat out a sacrifice bunt to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch allowed York to score and Chris Fourier's double drove him Cooksey. William & Mary tied the game in the bottom of the third as Terry Revere led off the inning with a home run and Jon Rhymes scored later in the inning on an unearned run as Cooksey dropped a fly ball that should have been the third out.

The Tribe (12-8, 0-2) added five runs in the fourth behind some long ball. Will Rhymes walked, Kyle Padgett doubled and Greg Sexton singled to make it 4-2. Gant managed to get two outs before Jon Rhymes singled to make it 5-2 and Brent McWhorter homered to make it 7-2.

Mason chipped into the lead in the sixth behind three hits and a Tribe error. Innerst singled and Barrett doubled to put runners in scoring position and Jimmy Freund grounded out to bring Innerst home. Mike Genovese followed with a walk to put runners on first and second before Padgett committed a fielding error on York's grounder to short loading the bases. Cooksey followed with a two-run double and Looze's grounder to first brought home York, making it 7-6. Innerst homered in the seventh to make it 7-7 before the Triber retook the lead.

Mike DeCarlo led off the seventh with a solo home run to make it 8-7 and walks to Will Rhymes and Padgett was followed by a Sexton single to make it 9-7. Things fell apart for William & Mary, though, in the top of the eighth. York and Cooksey singled and Looze homered to give Mason a 10-9 lead. Later in the inning, Innerst and Barrett had two-out singles and Freund had his only hit of the game, a single to score Innerst, making it 11-9.

Mason sent 12 batters to the plate in the ninth and knocked out six runs on six hits. York led off the frame with a walk and Cooksey, the Mason all-time leader in triples, hit the 17th of his career to make it 12-9. Looze singled for a 13-9 lead, as Cooksey scored the 163rd run of his career, tying him with Evan Howard for fifth on Mason's career list. Fournier then singled and Robby Jacobsen was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Innerst doubled home a pair of runs and Barrett followed with a single to center for a 16-9 edge. Later in the inning, Cooksey singled home Barrett to put Mason ahead by eight. William Mary managed one run in the bottom of the frame before their final rally ended.

Michael LaFleur went five and a third innings in the start for the Tribe and got a no decision. Sean Sosonko gave up four runs in one and two-thirds innings to drop to 2-3 on the year. Joe Mante pitched just one inning and allowed seven runs on seven hits. Jason Mills earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the year. He pitched the final two and two-third innings, allowing four hits and striking out four without walking a batter.

The two teams face again on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the final game of a three-game series. Mason will be looking for the sweep and its sixth straight win over the Tribe. The Patriots have scored 28 runs on 41 hits in the series.