March 29, 2009

Box Score

Williamsburg, Va. - The George Mason baseball team was unable to pull off a series sweep of William & Mary on Sunday afternoon as the Tribe pulled off a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Patriots, 7-6 in Colonial Athletic Association action.

The Patriots (19-5, 4-2) got a two-run home run in the top of the ninth from Ryan Soares, who blasted the ball well over the scoreboard in leftfield. That hit knotted the score at 6-6. But in the bottom of the frame, the Tribe (8-15, 2-4) drew a one-out walk off of Mason reliever Jordan Flasher, a single put runners on the corners and an error by Flasher allowed the game-winning run to cross the plate.

Soares, Scott Krieger and Justin Bour each had multiple hits and RBI in the contest which saw Mason lead 2-0 and 4-3 only for the Tribe to rally for three in the bottom of the eighth off of Ryan Brecko. A single and a double to start the eighth allowed William & Mary to tie the score at 4-4 and a wild pitch and error by Mark Hill at third allowed the go-ahead run to score. A walk, a ground out and a single gave the Tribe a critical insurance run.

Mason scored in the first when Spencer Wiggins led off with a double, Chris Henderson walked and Krieger singled to make it 1-0. Bour singled to bring home Henderson for a 2-0 run lead. Down 3-2 in the fifth, Mason tied the score when Wiggins was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a Bour single. The go-ahead run in the seventh came when Krieger doubled and scored on a Soares hit.

The Patriots return to action on Tuesday when they host Mount St. Mary's at 3 p.m. That will start a five-game homestand as Mason plays nine of its next 10 at Spuhler Field. Mason currently is tied with Oklahoma for the longest active home winning streak in the nation.