May 22, 2005
Box Score
On Senior Day at Spuhler Field in Fairfax, Mason got terrific pitching from a pair of seniors and the Patriots were able to clinch a second-place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season standings as Mason defeated James Madison, 5-3.
The Patriots (33-17, 15-9) will be the No. 2 seed in the CAA Tournament which begins on Wednesday at Wilmington N.C. Mason will face Delaware in the tournament's first game which has a Noon start time. All games can be seen live on the Internet at www.caasports.com.
Mason starter Josh Morrison went five innings allowing five hits, two walks and two runs while striking out four. The senior earned the win to improve to 6-3 on the season and 14-10 in his career. Senior Tyler Wingerd pitched three innings in relief, allowing two hits, no walks and one run while striking out one. The win gave Mason a sweep of James Madison for the first time since 1993. The Patriots have now won seven straight CAA games going into the CAA Tournament.
James Madison (20-35, 8-16) scored the game's first run as Michael Cowgill hit a one-out home run in the top of the first to give the Dukes a 1-0 lead. The Patriots rallied to make it a 1-1 game in the bottom of the third with Jimmy Freund reaching on a leadoff single and scoring on a one-out triple by Matt Cooksey. Cooksey extended his Mason and CAA career record for triples to 21.
The Dukes responded to Mason's run with a run of their own in the top of the fourth. Matt Bristow was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and he stole second. After Morrison struck out Josh Eye and Davis Stoneburner, Sean Loso walked and Rob Altieri singled to make it 2-1.
The Patriots retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth, this time behind some timely two-out hitting. Chris Fournier walked to lead off the inning and that ended the day for James Madison starter Jacob Cook. Patrick Riley came into the game and he proceeded to allow a single to Matt Barrett. After Tyler Youngs sacrificed the runners into scoring position and Freund popped out, Matt York doubled to left to make it 3-2.
Mason extended the lead in the fifth as Robby Jacobsen reached on a bunt single with two outs, stole second and scored on a Fournier single up the middle. The Patriots added another run in the seventh as Fournier and Casey Slattery drew one-out walks and Youngs followed with a single to center to make it 5-2. The Patriots threatened to add more after a Freund walk, but York grounded into a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.
James Madison closed the gap to 5-3 in the eighth with a solo home run by Matt Bristow, but Mason shut the door in the ninth as reliever Jared Petrovich picked up his second save of the season.
Patrick Riley (0-5) took the loss for James Madison, which saw its season end after failing to qualify for the CAA Tournament. Cowgill was the lone Duke with multiple hits, going 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI. Nearly all of Mason's seven seniors were productive on the day, with Wingerd and Morrison pitching eight innings, Cooksey going 2 for 4, Freund going 2 for 3 with a run and Adam Innerst going 1 for 5. Chris Looze was 0 for 5 but he did tie the school's career home run record on Saturday. Stacen Gant did not pitch but he won the CAA regular-season ERA title and tied for the conference's strikeout crown.
