March 13, 2009

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason baseball team won its fifth-straight game on Saturday afternoon, rallying in the late innings to beat Lehigh, 7-5 at Spuhler Field. Mason scored in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings and Jordan Flasher picked up his first save of the year as the Patriots improved to 9-3 on the year while Lehigh fell to 3-12. It was Mason's fifth-straight win and Lehigh's eighth-straight loss.

Scott Krieger and Josh Steinberg each had two hits in the game as Mason managed just eight hits as a team. Kevin Crum pitched six and two-third innings allowing three earned runs. Jason Koziol picked up the win despite pitching just one-third of an inning. Shawn Griffith and Flasher each pitched an inning in relief.

The Patriots scored a pair in the bottom of the second as Josh Steinberg singled up the middle, was replaced on the base paths by Mark Hill who went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Brent Weiss single. Weiss stole second later in the inning and scored on a Spencer Wiggins single through the left side.

In the top of the third, Lehigh cut into the lead as Broome reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on a single to right. But Mason countered in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Soares led off the inning with a double but was lifted for a pinch runner after sliding into second awkwardly. Dan Palumbo replaced him and he scored when Ryan Gaydos dropped a fly ball in left field.

Mason added a run in the fourth on Scott Krieger's solo homer and Josh Steinberg's solo shot in the fifth made it a 5-1 game. In the seventh, Lehigh got a leadoff single from Geoffrey Campbell, he went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Brendan Pifer single to right. After Kevin Crum was lifted for Jason Koziol, Billy Swenson doubled to right to make it 5-3 and Groome reached on a Hill throwing error that made it 5-5.

The Patriots were able to retake the lead in the bottom of the frame as Palumbo and Steinberg were hit by pitches, advanced on Mark Hill's sacrifice fly and Palumbo scored on Weiss' ground out. In the ninth, Spencer Wiggins led off with a single, stole second, went to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-5.

The Patriots and Mountain Hawks will continue the three-game series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.