Feb. 23, 2008
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team opened the 2008 season a day later than anticipated and the wait wasn't quite worth it as the Patriots dropped a doubleheader to College of Charleston, losing the first game 10-9 and the second contest, 28-14. In the opener, Maosn rallied from a 6-2 deficit to take an 8-6 lead but a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh pushed the Cougars to the win. In the second game, College of Charleston took a 12-0 lead before Mason scored 14 runs in the final five innings.
In the opener, Ryan Uphouse was 5 for 5 with two homers and three RBI, Justin Bour was 3 for 5 with a homer and three RBI and Scott Krieger hit a solo homer. The Patriots took their first lead of the season in the top of the seventh. Krieger reached on an error and scored on Bour's homer to make it 6-6. Later in the inning, Brent Weiss singled, went to second on a throwing error and scored on a Dan Palumbo single. Palumbo stole second and scored on an Uphouse double.
In the bottom of the frame, the Cougars got a one-out double and back-to-back walks before Gabe Marchant hit a grand slam to make it 10-8. Marchant was 2 for 3 with two homers and six RBI in the game. The Patriots rallied in the eighth as Chris Henderson singled to lead off the inning and scored on a Ryan Soares base hit. The Patriots had the tying run on second with two outs in the ninth but couldn't get it across.
The second game lacked drama, but had plenty of offense. Krieger was 3 for 4 with two homers and six RBI, Mark Hill was 3 for 5 with two homers and three RBI and Soares was 3 for 4 with a pair of runs scored. Michael Harrington was the star in the second game for the Cougars going 4 for 5 with six RBI and four runs scored. College of Charleston set school records for runs and hits in the game. T.J. O'Grady took the loss in the first game and Mike Modica took the loss for Mason in the second game. The Patriots will look to salvage a game on Sunday when the teams conclude their three-game series with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
