April 27, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team scored 23 runs in the final four innings including 10 in the seventh as the Patriots defeated Mount St. Mary's 27-12 in Emmittsburg, Md. Matt Cooksey and Chris Looze continued to hit career milestones as they each joined a separate 200 club.
Looze's home run in the eighth inning, his only hit of the game, was the 200th hit of his career. That tied him with major leaguer Chris Widger for 10th on the school's all-time list. Looze is also tied for third all-time, with Lonnie Goldberg, for total bases, with 376.
Cooksey, meanwhile, became just the third player in Mason history to reach 200 runs in a career. He entered the week leading the nation in runs per game with 1.5 and he has now scored eight times in two games this week. He scored three times on Wednesday to give him 201 for his career, tying him with Eddie Jordan. He is four behind Jeff Palumbo's career mark which was set last season. Cooksey is also one hit shy of 200 and after stealing a base against the Mountaineers, is one stolen base shy of becoming the first player in Mason history to steal 100 bases.
Wednesday's game was in sharp contrast to the first meeting between the two teams, when Mason (25-13) held on for a 2-1 win in a rain-shortened five-inning affair. The Patriots couldn't keep the Mountaineers off the bases early on as Mount St. Mary's (13-23) jumped out to an 10-4 lead after five innings. A six-run sixth tied the game at 10-10, but the Mountaineers came back with a run in the bottom of the frame to retake the lead. That set the stage for the big explosion of runs in the seventh.
Robby Jacobsen led off the inning with a double and Adam Innerst followed with his second home run of the game. Casey Slattery then hit a one-out single, but was erased on Mike Genovese's fielder's choice. Jimmy Freund followed with a double and Tyler Youngs walked to load the bases. Matt York followed with a bases-clearing double to make it 15-10. Matt Cooksey singled York to third and Looze hit a sacrifice fly to drive him home. After Cooksey stole second, Jacobsen singled to left to make it 17-10. Jacobsen quickly stole second and Innerst's double make it 18-10. Slattery singled to make it 19-10 and after a Genovese walk, Slattery scored on a fielding error, making it 20-10.
In the eighth, Looze hit a two-run homer to score York and Jacobsen, Slattery and Genovese all singled to make it 23-10. Mount St. Mary's scored in the bottom of the eight to make it 23-11, but the Patriots answered with four runs In the ninth, York, Cooksey, Jacobsen and Innerst all singled to make it 25-11 and Slattery hit a two-run double to make it 27-11.
The Patriots batted around in the seventh and sent eight batters to the plate in the eighth and ninth. Mason also batted around in the sixth when it scored six runs to get back into the game. Cooksey led off with a single but Looze's grounder to third erased the lead runner. Jacobsen walked and Innerst followed with a home run to cut into the Mountaineers' lead. Slattery was then hit by a pitch and Genovese doubled to put two runners in scoring position. After a Freund walk to load the bases, Youngs struck out for the first out of the inning. York then walked to make it 10-8 and Cooksey's grounder to shortstop was booted to allow two more runs to cross the plate, tying the game.
Billy Tinsley earned the win for Mason, pitching two and one-third innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits. Tyler Wingerd pitched the first five and two-third innings but got a no decision after allowing 11 runs, but only six were earned. Steve Stone took the loss for Mount St. Mary's, allowing four earned runs in one inning.
The Patriots return to action at home on Friday when they play a three-game series at Towson. Game times are set for Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Eric Gibbons, Stacen Gant and Brent Hitz are scheduled to start for Mason, respectively.
