March 22, 2008
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team rallied from 2-0 and 4-2 deficits as the Patriots scored five times in the final five innings to beat Northeastern, 5-4 in Colonial Athletic Association action. Mason improved to 8-11 on the season, 5-2 in CAA play. Northeastern fell to 8-7, 2-3.
Justin Bour was 3 for 4 with two RBI while Scott Krieger and Chris Henderson each were 1 for 4 with an RBI. Henderson, Mark Hill and Spencer Wiggins each stole bases as the running game proved critical for the Patriots. Sophomore Darren McLean pitched effectively in relief to pick up his first collegiate win.
The Huskies broke through in the bottom of the fourth for a pair of runs. Frank Pesanello led off with a walk and James Donaldson singled to put runners on first and second. Pesanello went to third on Ryan Maguire's fly out and scored on Anthony DiCesare's single to right. Later in the inning with two outs, Donaldson scored on a wild pitch when pitcher Mike Modica failed to cover home.
With Jeff Thomson perfect through four innings, two runs seemed like a huge deficit. But Justin Bour erased the perfect game, the no-hitter and the shutout with one swing, hitting his sixth home run of the year to lead off the fifth. Ryan Soares followed with a double off the wall in center and he went to third on a one-out ground out by Shane Davis. Ryan Uphouse drew a two-out walk to put runners on the corners and the Patriots scored the tying run when Uphouse purposely stopped on s steal attempt to force a rundown, allowing Soares to score in the process.
The Huskies retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Ryan Maguire led off with a walk and DiCesare followed with a home run to right, his first of the season. Mason trimmed the lead to 4-3 in the seventh when Scott Krieger led off the inning with his ninth home run of the year. In the eighth, the Patriots took their first lead of the contest. With two outs, Spencer Wiggins reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and scored under the tag on a Chris Henderson single to left. Henderson stole second, Krieger was intentionally walked and Bour singled to left to put Mason ahead, 5-4.
The teams conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a rubber-match scheduled for 1 p.m.
