April 16, 2006

Box Score

Harrisonburg, Va. - The George Mason baseball team was unable to break through on Sunday against one of the Colonial Athletic Association's top teams as the Patriots fell victim to James Madison for the third day in a row as the Dukes swept the Patriots for the first time since 2000 behind a 14-2 win on Sunday.

All 14 of James Madison's runs were scored with two outs and 22 of James Madison's 29 runs in the series came with two down. With the loss, Mason fell to 7-11 in the CAA while James Madison improved to 14-4, good for second place. The Dukes won for the fifth time in their past seven games while Mason lost for the eighth time in the past 10 games.

The Dukes hit a pair of home runs off of Mason starter Jared Petrovich to put five runs on the board in the first three innings. James Madison added eight runs in the fifth off reliever J.J. Pannell. Billy Tinsley pitched two and one-third scoreless innings for Mason with Jordan Flasher pitching the eighth.

Ryan Reid (7-2) earned the win for James Madison. He allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings with one walk and 11 strikeouts.

James Madison, which entered the weekend leading the nation in home runs and slugging percentage, got the scoring started in the second with the long ball. Matt Sluder led off to start the inning with a single to center and went to second on a sacrifice. After a strike out by Dan Santobianco, Joe Lake was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners and Matt Bristow followed with a home run to make it 3-0.

Mason rallied in the next frame behind some hits and a wild pitch. Jason Bour led off the top of a third with a double and Tyler Youngs blooped a single into right to put runners on the corners. Back-to-back strikeouts by starter Ryan Reid had the Dukes on the verge of escaping without any damage, but when strike three to Robby Jacobsen got away for what would have been the third out of the inning, Bour was able to score and the inning was extended. Matt York followed with a single up the middle that brought Youngs home to make it 3-2.

James Madison went back to work immediately, doing damage in the bottom of the inning with two outs. Rob Altieri laid down a bunt single down the third-base line and Santobianco followed with a home run to left field that made it 5-2.

The Dukes added a run in the fourth when Kellen Kulbacki drew a two-out walk and Nate Schill and Sluder followed with back-to-back singles to center to make it 6-2. In the fifth, the Dukes broke the game open.

Bristow was hit by a pitch with two outs, Matt Townsend and Michael Cowgill drew four-pitch walks and Kulbacki singled to left to bring home a pair of runs. After an infield single by Schill, Sluder drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 9-2. Altieri followed with a double to right making it 11-2. Santobianco's single to third made it a 10-run lead for James Madison and ended the day for Pannell. After a four-pitch walk to Lake by Billy Tinsley, Bristow doubled to make it 14-2 before Townsend flew out to deep center to end the inning.

Jared Petrovich (0-2) took the loss for the Patriots, allowing five earned runs on six hits in two and two-third innings. He walked one and struck out one. Pannell surrendered nine runs on seven hits with four walks in two innings. Billy Tinsley pitched two and one-third scoreless innings for the Patriots while Jordan Flasher pitched a hitless eighth. Jason Bour was the lone Patriot with multiple hits, with a single, a double and a run scored.

Next up for the Patriots is a road game at Navy on Tuesday at 3 p.m. After that, the Patriots will play four straight at home, with a weekend CAA series against Virginia Commonwealth and a mid-week game against Liberty.