May 2, 2007
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team trailed by nine runs heading into the bottom of the fifth but the Patriots were able to rally, outscoring Temple 11-0 the rest of the way to come from behind and take an 18-16 win over the Owls on Wednesday in non-conference action at Spuhler Field. Mason's four power hitters each went deep on the day and Jordan Flasher picked up his 12th save of the season as the Patriots had their largest come-from-behind win of the season.
Justin Bour had four RBI and Scott Krieger and Chris Fournier each added three RBI. Jason Bour had the game-winning hit in the eighth as the Patriots improved to 24-21 on the year. Temple's Stan Orzechowski was a triple shy of the cycle and Matt Heltz had six RBI as the Owls fell to 16-27.
The Owls had no trouble getting early runs. Orzechowski singled to lead off the game and Ryan Weber reached on a two-base error by leftfielder Krieger. After a sacrifice fly made it 1-0, Dan Brady struckout and Mason was on the verge of escaping the inning. But that's when trouble began brewing in the form of free passes. Mason starter Jason Koziol walked Mike Kelch on a 3-1 pitch and Jamie Abercrombie on a 3-0 pitch. He then fell behind Matt Heltz 2-0. Heltz took a strike before depositing Koziol's 2-1 offering over the rightfield fence for a 5-0 Temple lead.
The Patriots didn't take long to get those runs back as Spencer Wiggins was hit by a pitch to lead off the first and after he stole second, Krieger hit a home run to left, his 18th long ball of the year. Justin Bour followed with a walk and after Chris Henderson's double put two runners in scoring position, Mason made it 5-3 when Bour scored on a wild pitch. Mike Laird followed with the first triple of his career allowing Mason to cut it to one and the Patriots tied the score when second baseman Carmen Del Mastro threw the ball in the dirt on Ryan Uphouse's grounder.
Temple was able to retake the lead in the second as Orzechowski hit a one-out solo homer to left-center. Temple added to that in the third when, after a pair of strikeouts to lead off the inning, Kyle Obal and Del Mastro hit back-to-back singles and Orzechowski followed with a double to make it 8-5 and leaving him a triple shy of the cycle. The damage didn't end there as Weber walked and Sean Barksdale homered off the batter's eye in centerfield making it 11-5.
Mason trimmed the lead in the bottom of the third as Henderson and Uphouse walked, Brent Weiss reached on an error to load the bases and Wiggins was hit by a pitch to drive in a run and make it 11-6 with one out. Fournier followed with a five-pitch walk and the deficit was down to four. Temple had no trouble getting those runs back as, with one out, Abercrombie singled, Heltz reached on a fielding error by firstbaseman Justin Bour and Obal singled through the right side on a hit-and-run to make it 12-7. It became 13-7 on Del Mastro's bunt single on the first-base side of the mound.
Temple continued its habit of scoring in every inning with a pair of leadoff singles in the fifth followed by a one-out double by Heltz and a single by Obal to make it 16-7. In the bottom of the fifth, Mason, which entered the week 20th in the nation in homers per game, cut into the lead significantly using the long ball. With one out, Spencer Wiggins and Chris Fournier hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners and Krieger singled to left to make it 16-8. Justin Bour followed with his 13th homer of the year over the rightfield fence to make it 16-11. On the next pitch, Jason Bour made it back-to-back homers when he deposited his 11th homer of the season beyond the leftfield fence.
After Ryan Brecko became the first of four Mason pitchers to hurl a scoreless inning, the Patriots cut into the lead some more in the sixth. Weiss walked with one out and he scored from first on a Wiggins double to right. Fournier followed with his 11th homer of the year to make it 16-15. In the seventh, Brecko pitched the first 1-2-3 inning of the game for either team and T.J. O'Grady followed that with a scoreless eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth, Wiggins led off with an infield single and he took second on a throwing error by the third baseman, Heltz. Fournier moved Wiggins to third with a ground out and with two outs, Justin Bour singled up the middle to tie the game at 16-16. Jason Bour followed with a double down the leftfield line that scored pinch-runner Chris Romanow from second and Henderson's single to center brought home Jason Bour to put Mason ahead 18-16.
Flasher pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save of the year. He entered the week fourth in the nation in saves and he already holds the school's single-season record for saves. His 16 career saves are two shy of tying the school's all-time mark.
The Patriots next take the field this weekend when they host Old Dominion in a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series. Friday's game is slated for 3 p.m., Saturday's for 2 p.m. and Sunday's for 1 p.m.
