April 18, 2008
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team opened up a big weekend series with James Madison on Friday afternoon by turning an early pitching duel into a rout as Mason used a five-run sixth inning to beat the Dukes, 7-2 at Spuhler Field. Mason, in third place in the CAA, beat the second-place Dukes behind superb pitching and solid defense.
Dan Jaycox had his best outing of the season allowing eight hits and two walks in seven and two-thirds innings. He surrendered two earned runs while striking out seven. Ryan Uphouse was 2 for 3 with a homer and three RBI, Justin Bour was 2 for 3 and Shane Davis had a pair of RBI. Mason reached the .500 mark for the second time all year, improving to 19-19, 12-6. James Madison fell to 25-10, 15-4.
When Uphouse led off the bottom of the third for the Patriots, eight of the game's first 18 batters had struck out and only four had reached base. The junior rightfielder connected on a 2-1 pitch for his fourth home run of the season and a 1-0 lead. With one out in the top of the fourth, Steven Caseres tied the score when he blasted his 13th homer of the year, a first-pitch offering that landed behind the wall in right-center.
Mason retook the lead in the fourth inning behind one hit, one walk and one hit batter. Bour led off the frame with a single, his second hit of the game. With one out, Davis was hit by a pitch and Mark Hill followed with a four-pitch walk. Brent Weiss' slow roller to second plated Bour and made it 2-1.
The Patriots finally got a big inning in the bottom of the sixth. Bour and Krieger led off the inning with walks, they advanced on a wild pitch and scored when Davis singled up the middle against a drawn-in infield. With the score 4-1, Hoffman exited the game, making way for Trevor Kaylid. After Hill's sacrifice bunt moved Davis to second, Weiss walked and the runners advanced on another wild pitch. This time it was Uphouse singling up the middle, again against a drawn-in infield, to make it 6-1. With two outs, Ryan Soares tripled to plate Uphouse for a six-run lead.
While Hoffman didn't get out of the sixth, Jaycox continued to perform well into the eighth. After the solo homer in the fourth, he retired nine of the next 10 batters until allowing a pair of singles in the seventh. Those runners were stranded as he pitched out of trouble. In the eighth, he surrendered a leadoff single and a one-out double and the Dukes made it 7-2 on Caseres' 400-foot sacrifice fly to center. After a walk, Jaycox departed, giving way to Ryan Brecko, who needed one pitch to end the inning.
Mason and James Madison will continue their three-game series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
