March 9, 2007

Box Score

Hempstead, N.Y. - On a day when Scott Krieger is believed to have set a school record with a home run in his fourth straight game and Chris Fournier extended his hitting streak to 11 straight days, they were both once again overshadowed by a freshman first baseman. Justin Bour, taking the field for the first time after having three home runs and nine RBI on Tuesday, hit two more home runs and had four more RBI as he led the Patriots to an 11-4 win over Hofstra in Colonial Athletic Association action. It is the fifth straight game Mason (6-5, 3-1) has scored in double figures.

Bour has been close to unstoppable in the past two contests. With a slugging percentage close to 2.000, he is 7 of 10 with five homers and 13 RBI. He provided more than enough offense while J.J. Pannell provided plenty of pitching as he allowed Hofstra (5-8) just two earned runs in seven innings of work to improve to 3-1 on the year.

Mason got the scoring started in the third as Fournier led off with a double down the left field line and Krieger followed with a high fly ball to right that the fielder lost in the sun. The result was an RBI triple. Bour followed with his first home run of the day, a shot off the scoreboard in right-centerfield.

In the fifth, Mason doubled the lead as Chris Henderson drew a two-out walk, Ryan Uphouse doubled two put the pair in scoring position and Dan Palumbo doubled to bring them home. Brent Weiss followed with an RBI single.

Pannell lost the shutout in the sixth behind a Hofstra single and double, followed by a ground out and wild pitch. The Patriots got those two runs back in the eighth, though, as Fournier and Krieger led off the frame with back-to-back homers. It was the third time this year that the Patriots have hit back-to-back homers.

In the eighth, Dan Gerjets came on in relief but struggled early with his command, surrendering a lead-off walk and a one-out triple to make it 8-3. A two-out single made it 8-4 and the lead seemed precarious. That didn't last long as in the ninth, Weiss double, Krieger singled and Bour homered to account for the final runs.

Bour and Krieger each had three hits and they are tied for the team lead with six homers and 20 RBI. Krieger is hitting .419 while Bour is batting .372. Each are slugging better than .800. Weiss also had three hits while Fournier and Uphouse each had two. Chris Romanow had an eight-game hitting streak snapped. The Patriots raised their team batting average to .336 and all nine regulars are batting .289 or better. Mason has now had five multi-homer games.

For Hofstra, Andrew Campana and Tom Legregani combined for six of the Pride's eight hits. Drew Luedtke (2-3) took the loss, giving up three runs in three innings. Patrick Rogers allowed eight runs in five and two-thirds innings while Jeff Denlea got the final out for Hofstra.

The two teams return to action on Saturday at 2 p.m. Mike Modica will get the start for Mason.