April 17, 2005
Box Score
It's becoming an all-too familiar combination for the George Mason baseball team. Poor fielding puts the team in a hole and poor situational hitting makes it tough for them to climb out of it. On Sunday in a Colonial Athletic Association game at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, that combination caught up to the Patriots as Mason committed three errors, stranded six base runners, grounded into two double plays and had runners thrown out on the bases three times as Mason fell to Hofstra, 3-2.
The Patriots had been unbeaten in their first 11 meetings with the Pride but Hofstra finally got in the win column behind a strong performance from starting pitcher Will DeVito. He held Mason scoreless until the eighth inning and he finished with a line of two earned runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts in eight innings. Jeff Denlea pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save. Brent Hitz started for Mason and he did not allow an earned run in five and one-third innings. He surrendered six hits and two walks while striking out four. Phil Stone gave up one earned run in two and one-third innings while Jason Mills pitched the final one and one-third for Mason without allowing a run.
The Pride (15-19, 4-8) got on the scoreboard in the fourth when Eric Walsh reached on a throwing error by third baseman Chris Fournier and went to second on a Steve Oliveri single. After David Cole struck out, Andy Campana singled to right and Matt York bobbled the ball, allowing Walsh to score. Hofstra added a run in the sixth when Walsh reached on a fielding error by second baseman Tyler Youngs, went to third on a David Cole single and scored on a fielder's choice by Campana. The Pride's final run came in the top of the seventh on a one-out home run by Ricky Caputo, his fifth of the year.
The Patriots (20-11, 7-5) struck for two in the bottom of the eighth. Mike Genovese reached first to lead off the inning when he struck out on a pitch in the dirt that got away from the catcher, Oliveri. Tyler Youngs took his spot on the bases with a fielder's choice and Matt Cooksey's double brought home Youngs. Chris Looze singled to make it 3-2 but Casey Slattery grounded out to end the threat.
Mason threatened in the ninth when Robby Jacobsen led off with a double but he was thrown out on Jimmy Freund's sacrifice bunt attempt. It was the third time in the game a Mason runner had been thrown out on the bases. Adam Innerst doubled in the fifth but was thrown out at third on Mike Genovese's grounder up the middle. In the seventh, Innerst was picked off of first with two outs and runners on first and second.
Looze was 3 for 4 for Mason while Innerst and Genovese were each 2 for 4. Oliveri was 2 for 3 as was Campana. Walsh scored a pair of runs despite going 0 for 5.
Mason will be back in action on Tuesday when it hosts Mount St. Mary's. The Patriots need to win the final two game of their nine-game homestand in order to finish the stretch with a winning record. They are currently 3-4 on this homestand.
