May 19, 2005
The George Mason baseball team has a busy weekend ahead as the Patriots conclude the 2005 regular season and gear up for the CAA Tournament. Mason will host James Madison Friday at 3 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday will be Senior Day with an alumni cookout prior to the game.
Mason will also have an Alumni Cookout on Sunday, beginning at Noon. The Patriots will take a few moments to honor the 1985 team on the field prior to the game, the first Mason team to make it to the NCAA Regionals. Numerous members of the team will be in attendance.
The Patriots will be facing a desparate opponent in the Dukes, who are one loss away from being eliminated from postseason contention. Only six teams make the CAA Tournament and James Madison is currently tied for seventh. The Dukes need to sweep Mason to make the CAA Tournament. The Patriots are currently in third and can finish anywhere between second and fifth.
Mason hasn't played James Madison since the final weekend of the 2004 regular season when the Patriots took 2 of 3 from the Dukes. This year's James Madison team is paced by Michael Cowgill, who is lead the team in batting average, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage. e is bating .365 with 12 homers, 47 RBI and a .626 slugging percentage. Kellen Kulbacki is also hitting .347 with eight home runs while Skyler Doom is battin g.327 with 13 steals.
James Madison's weakness this year has been its pitching staff, which has a 6.08 ERA. Brian Leatherwood will start Friday's game for the Dukes. He has a 2-2 record with a 7.06 ERA. The rest of the weekend's starters will depend on which pitchers James Madison uses on Friday, as everyone will be available to help the Dukes avoid a loss.
Mason will send Stacen Gant to the mound on Friday. He has a 9-2 mark and a 2.96 ERA. Brent Hitz (3-4, 3.54) gets the nod on Saturday with Jared Petrovich (0-1, 5.01) taking the mound on Sunday.
Several Patriots will pursue records and benchmarks this weekend. Matt Cooksey will continue his pursuit of a .400 season. He is currently hitting .399. Chris Looze, meanwhile, needs one more home run to tie the school's all-time mark of 45.
Senior Day will be the final home game in the careers of seven Patriots - Cooksey, Jimmy Freund, Gant, Adam Innerst, Chris Looze, Josh Morrison and Tyler Wingerd.
