May 25, 2007

Box Score

Wilmington, N.C. - The George Mason baseball team was eliminated from the CAA Baseball Tournament on Friday afternoon when the Patriots fell to Delaware 6-3 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C. The Patriots got strong pitching but Delaware did an excellent job of playing small ball and taking extra bases to beat the Patriots, who managed just seven hits against Delaware starter Chad Kerfoot.

Mike Modica had a terrific start before running out of gas in the sixth. He had allowed just two hits and one unearned run while striking out nine through the first five innings. His final line, three earned runs, five hits in five and one-third, wasn't indicative of how strong his performance was. Kerfoot, who had held Mason to two hits in eight innings in a regular-season meeting, held the Patriots to seven hits, one walk and three earned runs while striking out ten in eight and two-third innings. Four of those hits and two of those runs came in the ninth when he ran out of gas.

Delaware got on the board first as Ryan Jablonski led off the game with a double and with two outs and Bryan Hagerich on first, a double steal and a throwing error on Mason catcher Jason Bour brought Jablonski home for an unearned run and a 1-0 lead. Mason tied the game in the third as Dan Palumbo struck out to lead off the inning but reached first on a wild pitch. He went to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on Spencer Wiggins' infield single and scored on a Chris Fournier sacrifice fly.

The game remained knotted at 1-1 until the sixth when Brandon Menchaca got a ball into the wind and tripled into the rightfield corner. That tied the CAA career record for triples that is held by Mason's Matt Cooksey. Alex Buchholz picked up the RBI two pitches later, singling up the middle for a 2-1 Delaware lead. Later, with one out, Adam Tsakonas doubled to score Hagerich to make it 3-1. With two outs, Ryan Engelhardt's slow dribbler onto the outfield grass was enough to score Tsakonas making it 4-1. Scott Shockley, who walked earlier in the frame, scored the inning's final run when Engelhardt forced a rundown between first and second and Shockley came home from third.

The final Delaware run came in the eighth when Mason reliever Jordan Flasher gave up a solo shot to Adam Tsakonas, the second homer allowed by Flasher this season, with the first coming in his previous appearance, also at Brooks Field.

Mason's runs in the ninth came when Spencer Wiggins and Chris Fournier singled, advanced with one out when Buchholz dropped an infield fly and scored on a Jason Bour single to left. After Henderson singled, Chris Romanow flew out to deep right to end the game.

With the loss, the season has come to an end for Mason (27-27). The Patriots returned to the CAA Tournament after missing the postseason in 2006. Before that, Mason had played in 19 straight CAA Baseball Tournaments. With its win over Georgia State on Thursday, Mason became the leader in CAA Tournament wins among active CAA schools with 35 victories. This year's Mason squad also set a school record for team batting average as the Patriots hit .317 as a team, breaking the previous school record of .314 set in 1997.