April 27, 2007

Box Score

Towson, Md. - The George Mason baseball team played from behind for nearly all of Friday's game at Towson but the Patriots were able to take an eighth-inning lead and rode two strong innings of relief pitching from Jordan Flasher to beat the Tigers 11-10 in Colonial Athletic Association action at Schuerholz Park in Towson, Md.

Every Mason starter had a hit and Chris Fournier, Jason Bour and Justin Bour each had three hits. But despite pounding out 18 hits, Flasher stole the show with his10th save of the season. That tied Steve Kann's single-season school record set in 1986.

Mason jumped on the board in the first when, with one out, Fournier singled to right, Scott Krieger walked, Justin Bour singled to right and Jason Bour singled up the middle to plate Fournier. Chris Henderson's grounder to second scored Krieger and made it 2-0.

The long Mason first inning may have given Mason starter J.J. Pannell a lead, but it didn't help him when he took the mound as eight of his first 10 pitches were balls, resulting in a pair of walks to start the bottom of the first. With Kyle Skellchock on second and Hans Falkenhan on first, Brian Conley singled to load the bases with no one out. Towson made it 2-1 when Ryan Schreiter grounded out to third and A.J. Tinnirella did the same to make it 2-2. Steve Yarsinsky followed with a single to center to put the Tigers up, 3-2.

Mason quickly retook the lead as Dan Palumbo singled to left on the first pitch and Brent Weiss knocked an 0-1 pitch over the fence in left-center for the first homer of his career. The lead wasn't safe, though, as Kevin Collins led off the second with a double to left and Nick Natoli followed with a single to right to put runners on the corners with no outs. Skellchock followed with a single to left to tie the game. A sacrifice bunt by Falkenhan moved the runners up and they scored on a triple by Conley. Schreiter again had an RBI groundout to third and Towson was up 7-4.

After a scoreless third, Mason trimmed into the lead in the fourth with a pair of runs coming with two outs. Brent Weiss was hit by a pitch and Spencer Wiggins followed with a single to center to put runners on first and second. Chris Fournier's single to right brought home Weiss and sent Wiggins to third. A passed ball on the next pitch made it 7-6. Mason threatened in the fifth when Justin Bour singled and Jason Bour doubled but Henderson lined out to third, Chris Romanow's grounder back to the pitcher eliminated Justin Bour from the basepaths and Palumbo soft liner was snared by the second baseman.

Towson added a run in the fifth as Schreiter walked to start the inning, went to second on a one-out single by Yarsinsky and scored on a two-out hit by Collins. The Mason bullpen didn't do much better as Ryan Brecko came on in relief in the sixth, gave up a lead off single to Skellchock and a homer to Falkenhan to make it 10-6.

Mason trimmed the lead considerably in the seventh when Jason Bour scored from first on a two-out double by Henderson and Romanow followed with a bloop single to center to make it 10-8. Dan Palumbo singled to center to put runners on the corners and Romanow scored on the back end of a double steal to make it 10-9.

The Patriots finally retook the lead in the eighth behind four straight hits. Chris Fournier doubled to right with one out and scored on a Scott Krieger single up the middle. Krieger went to third on a perfect hit-and-run single by Justin Bour and scored on a Jason Bour single to left. The rally ended prematurely, though, when Henderson grounded into a double play to end the frame. That's when Flasher entered the game and he allowed just one baserunner in two innings.

The Patriots and Tigers will continue their series on Saturday when the two teams play at Schuerholz Park at 1 p.m.