April 10, 2007
Box Score
Ryan Brecko had the best outing of his career and George Mason's three through six hitters combined for 12 hits as the Patriots split their season series with George Washington, beating the Colonials 12-5 in non-conference baseball action. Mason scored in six of the eight innings in which it batted and Brecko did not allow an earned run until the eighth inning as Mason improved to 15-17. George Washington, which beat Mason 5-4 last month, is now 11-21.
Brecko faced just five batters over the minimum through seven innings as he improved to 2-2 on the year. He departed with the bases loaded and reliever Dan Gerjets allowed a grand slam to the first batter he faced. Despite that, Brecko's final line read three earned runs on nine hits in seven and one-third innings. He struck out a career-high four and did not allow a walk - the first outing of his career in which he did not surrender a free pass.
The Patriots got the offense rolling in the first, matching the amount of runs they scored in their previous two games combined. With two outs, Chris Fournier walked and Scott Krieger hit the first pitch he saw for his Colonial Athletic Association-leading 14th homer of the season. In the second, Mason again rallied with two outs. Spencer Wiggins reached on an error by rightfielder Gavin Swanson and Mike Laird and Chris Henderson followed with singles to right to make it 3-0.
Ryan Brecko, meanwhile, was having one of his best outings of the season. After allowing a leadoff single to Mickey Shupin, he retired eight straight batters before facing Shupin again in the third. Shupin again singled but he was caught stealing on the next pitch to end the third.
In the third, Mason didn't wait for two outs to start a rally. Krieger led off with a single to right and Justin Bour followed with a hit through the left side. Jason Bour followed with a single just in front of the leftfielder and the bases were loaded. Dan Palumbo then walked on a 3-1 pitch to make it 4-0. With one out, Wiggins hit an infield single against a drawn-in infield to make it 5-0 and Mike Laird followed with a groundout to first to make it 6-0.
The Colonials finally got on the board in the fourth when Doug Eizen was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Michael Parker singled to send him to third. Curtis Eward grounded out to score Eizen and it was 6-1 but the George Washington rallied died when Andrew Abokhair grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Mason responded in the fourth as Krieger led off with a single and Justin Bour doubled to put a pair in scoring position. Jason Bour's single brought home Krieger and Dan Palumbo's double to right scored Justin Bour for an 8-1 lead. After Brent Weiss struck out, Wiggins walked to load the bases with one out, but Mason couldn't build on the lead as Laird struck out and Chris Henderson grounded out to the pitcher. In the fifth, Fournier made it 9-1 when he led off the frame with his 10th home run of the season.
Brecko continued to cruise along. Including the two outs on the double play, he retired seven straight before finally running into trouble. Parker and Charlie Kruer hit back-to-back singles and a wild pitch moved them into scoring position but Eward grounded out to short to end the threat. In the sixth, Mason finally failed to score in an inning, despite loading the bases for Justin Bour, who has three grand slams on the season.
In the seventh, Mason put three runs on the board as Jason Bour singled, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a Brent Weiss single and he and Weiss scored on a Wiggins triple. Wiggins came home to make it 12-1 on a Laird infield single.
In the eighth, Brecko tired. After getting the leadoff batter out, he gave up three straight singles to load the bases. Gerjets came on and allowed Kruer to launch a 2-1 pitch over the rightfield wall to make it 12-5. Gerjets then got a pop up and a flyout to end the inning. Mason did not score in the eighth and the Colonials failed to put a run on the board in the ninth.
The Patriots will return to action on Wednesday when they host Georgetown at 3 p.m., weather permitting.
