May 17, 2008

Box Score

The George Mason baseball team played its final regular season game of the 2008 season on Saturday afternoon and the Patriots finished in strong fashion, completing a sweep of visiting William & Mary, beating the Tribe 10-3. When the three-games series began, Mason (28-23, 18-10) trailed the Tribe in the Colonial Athletic Association standings but the Patriots passed the Tribe (35-19, 16-13) and clinched the third seed in next week's CAA Tournament in Wilmington, N.C.. Mason will play its first postseason game on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. against the fourth-seeded Tribe.

Justin Bour had his first home run in six weeks, snapping a streak of 100 plate appearances. He finished the game 3 for 4 with four RBI. Chris Henderson was 3 for 5 with two RBI and Ryan Soares, Josh Steinberg, Mark Hill and Brent Weiss each had two hits. Dan Jaycox, Mason's lone senior, got the start on Senior Day while Kris Mengle (4-2) picked up the win pitching four hitless innings.

In the first, Henderson singled and scored on Bour's two-out homer. William & Mary took its lone lead in the second when Ben Guez led off the inning with a solo homer, Rob Nickle was hit by a pitch, Jeff Jones doubled and Tyler Stampone singled home the runners with two outs to make it 3-2.

Mason tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Scott Krieger singled, went to second when Hendrson was thrown out trying to steal third and scored from second on Justin Bour's single to short. The Patriots broke the game open in the sixth when they sent 11 men to the plate and scored seven runs.

Weiss led off with a double, Ryan Uphouse followed with a single and Spencer Wiggins walked to load the bases. Soares walked to drive in a run and Henderson doubled to score two more. Krieger's ground out to second brought home Soares and Bour's single plated Henderson to make it 8-3. Steinberg doubled to put runners on second and third and Mark Hill's single brought home Bour. Steinberg scored on a Weiss fielder's choice to make it 10-3.

Mengle struck out five as he worked from the fourth through the seventh Shawn Griffith worked the final two innings allowing just one hit. The Patriots held William & Mary to just five hits. Coming into the week, the Tribe was third in the nation in batting average with a .347 mark. Mason pitchers held the Tribe to a .269 batting average in the three games.