March 16, 2009

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason baseball team continued to build on the best start in Division I school history on Monday afternoon as the Patriots won their eighth-straight game, downing Massachusetts, 3-1. Justin Bour provided all the offense while freshman Kevin Lingerman, senior Jason Koziol and junior Ryan Brecko got the job done on the mound as Mason remained unbeaten at home on the season.

Bour hit a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth and then drove in two runs with a double in the eighth to account for all the offense. Lingerman allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks in six innings. Koziol pitched a scoreless seventh and Brecko pitched the eighth and ninth to earn his second win of the year.

The Minutemen scored in the top of the sixth on a single, a sacrifice bunt, a bunt single and a groundout to make it 1-0. In the bottom of the frame, Bour homered to left field with two outs to tie the score. In the eighth, Spencer Wiggins and Chris Henderson drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning and they scored on Bour's double over the right fielder's head. Bour was later thrown out trying to score on a Dan Palumbo two-out single.

In 2003, Mason set the Division I school record for consecutive wins, with 11, and consecutive home wins, with 18. This is Mason's longest win streak since that stretch and the Patriots have now won 12 straight at home stretching back to last season. The Patriots are now 12-3 on the year. The previous best 15-game start was 10-5, set four times, most recently in 2005.

Mason will return to action on Tuesday when the Patriots begin a two-game series with Marist. Both Tuesday and Wednesday's games will begin at 3 p.m.