Aug. 2, 2005
The 2005 George Mason baseball team may not have brought a championship back to Fairfax, but the Patriots had a successful season by any measure. Mason won more than 30 games for the third straight season, only the second time Mason has accomplished that in the Division I era. The Patriots finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association in the regular season, just as predicted by the conference's coaches in the preseason. And finally, the Patriots got big contributions from many of the younger student-athletes, proving that despite the loss of seven seniors, the future is still bright for Mason baseball.
The season started quite slow for the Patriots. Very early in the season, Mason discovered that its Achilles Heel would be defense. The Patriots committed 11 errors in a season-opening tournament at Charleston Southern to open the year 1-2. After the Hughes Brothers Challenge in Wilmington, Mason was able to even its record at 3-3.
With a .500 record and question marks about the defense (14 errors combined in the three losses) the Patriots returned home, and they discovered that the friendly confines of Spuhler Field would be welcome in 2005. Mason ran off seven straight home wins sweeping a three-game series from Fordham, two-hitting Virginia Tech and sweeping three games from Fairfield. During that stretch, the Patriots defeated Fairfield 7-2 to win the 1,000th game in school history.
After dropping two games to nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina, Mason was able to take two of three from William & Mary, dropping only the series finale as the Tribe scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to steal the win. A sweep of Old Dominion and home wins over Georgetown and UMBC put Mason at 17-6 overall, 5-1 in the CAA heading into a critical series with UNC Wilmington.
Unfortunately for Mason, the series did not go Mason's way. After a loss to George Washington, Mason dropped three straight at Spuhler Field to the Seahawks, snapping a 12-game winning streak. Mason hadn't been swept at home in a three-game series since 2001, the first time since 2002 that Mason lost a series at home to a conference rival and the first time since 2000 that the Patriots allowed 10 or more runs in back-to-back games.
But much as they have over the past few seasons, Mason responded once its back was to the wall. The Patriots won five of six games to right the ship, at least temporarily. Things weren't perfect, though, when Mason got into CAA play. The Patriots dropped two of three to Virginia Commonwealth and two of thee to Towson. Mason was in the bottom half of the conference's teams heading into its final six CAA games.
A three-game sweep of Delaware and a three-game sweep of James Madison allowed Mason to earn the second seed in the CAA Tournament, held in Wilmington for the second-straight season. For the first time since 2001, the Patriots won their opening-round game in the CAA Tournament, downing Delaware, 9-5 Virginia Commonwealth awaited in the second round and the Rams dominated Mason, dropping the Patriots into the loser's bracket after an 8-3 win.
Mason then faced its toughest task of the season the next morning, taking on top-seeded UNC Wilmington in an elimination game on the Seahawks home field. The Patriots came through with a seven-run fifth inning to eliminate the Seahawks. That left VCU standing in the way of Mason's spot in the championship game. The Patriots took a 3-1 lead after two innings but the Rams chipped into the lead with a run in the sixth and tied the game with a run in the seventh. That set the stage for a heartbreaking end to the season.
With two outs in the ninth, a high fly ball to shallow left field hung up in the air a little too long, as Adam Innerst called off shortstop Tyler Youngs but was then unable to come up with the catch, committing an error on the play that allowed two runs to score, effectively ending Mason's season.
The loss ended the careers of Innerst, Chris Looze, Matt Cooksey, Stacen Gant, Josh Morrison and Tyler Wingerd. Looze leaves as Mason's all-time leader in home runs and RBI and he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was named second-team All-CAA and he received the highest academic honor any Patriot has ever received as he was named the National Academic Player of the Year in Baseball.
Cooksey finished his time at Mason as the school's all-time leader in triples, steals, walks and runs and the CAA's all-time leader in triples and walks. He, too, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays after being named first-team All-CAA.
Gant concluded his Mason career as the most decorated pitcher in school history. He is Mason's all-time leader in wins, appearances, strikeouts and innings pitched and he is second all-time in ERA and winning percentage. He was first-team All-CAA for the second straight year.
Innerst is top five in Mason history in homers and RBI while Morrison is top 10 at Mason in career appearances. Wingerd, meanwhile, had one of the best seasons in school history by allowing just 12 earned runs and nine walks.
Six position players return to next year's team after having batted better than .300 in 2005. Matt York hit .335, Robby Jacobsen hit .335, Tyler Youngs batted .326, Casey Slattery hit .313 and Chris Fournier batted .304.
Three stellar relievers return to next year's squad with J.J. Pannell and Phil Stone turning in dominant seasons in their first year in a Mason uniform and Jason Mills, a third-year player, earning second-team All-CAA honors after saving six games with a 4-0 record and 35 strikeouts in 27.2 innings.
