May 26, 2005
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team was unable to capitalize on an earlier upset in the Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Tournament and the Patriots now finding themselves fighting out of the loser's bracket and facing the top seed in the tournament as Mason fell to Virginia Commonwealth in the second round of the six-team double-elimination tournament at Wilmington, N.C. as the Patriots fell to the Rams, 8-3.
Mason will have just 14 hours off before taking the field at Noon on Friday against No. 1 UNC Wilmington, which lost to Towson on Thursday, 6-1. The loser of that game will be eliminated from the tournament. If No. 2 Mason wins, they will come back at 7 p.m. to face VCU. On Wednesday the Patriots won their opening-round game for the first time since 2001. On Thursday, they failed to win their first two tournament games, something they last accomplished in 1995.
The Patriots struck first in the contest when Chris Looze singled with two outs and Adam Innerst hit a two-run home run to left field to put Mason ahead 2-0. Virginia Commonwealth needed no time to respond though, as Sergio Miranda hit a one-out single, went to third on a botched pick off play and scored on a Tim St. Clair single. Trai Harris and Pete Farina followed with hits to score St. Clair.
The Rams took their first lead of the game in the second when Barrett Ripley led off with a single, stole second and scored on a Joe Meador single to right. The Rams made it 4-2 in the fifth when St. Clair hit a solo home run to left.
In the sixth, Mason (34-18) closed to within one when Matt Cooksey led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Robby Jacobsen. But VCU made it 5-3 in the sixth when Kwan Evans was hit by a pitch with two outs, went to second on a Joe Meador single and scored on an error by Jimmy Freund on a grounder by Miranda.
The Rams (31-20) broke the game open in the eighth. Evans walked and after a flyout by Meador, Miranda singled to put runners on the corners. Scott Sizemore then doubled in two runs and he scored on a St. Clair single for a five-run lead.
Brent Hitz (4-5) took the loss for Mason going six and two-third innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on 10 hits with two walks and three strikeouts. J.J. Pannell went two and one-third innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
John Leonard (5-4) earned the win in the longest outing of his career. Leonard went nine innings, allowing three runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
The Patriots will send Jared Petrovich (0-1, 4.86 ERA) to the mound on Friday while UNC Wilmington will send Jeff Moore (6-1, 3.34 ERA) to the mound. Moore shutout the Patriots earlier this season and he earned a win over Mason to eliminate the Patriots from the 2004 CAA Tournament. In 15 career innings against Mason, Moore has allowed 10 hits and no earned runs.
