March 7, 2009

Box Score

The George Mason baseball team won its home opener on Saturday afternoon, taking the first game of a doubleheader from Army, beating the Black Knights, 8-2. Mike Modica pitched seven strong innings and Scott Krieger had a grand slam as the Patriots improved to 5-3 on the year.

Modica allowed just four hits and four walks in seven innings with eight strikeouts and two earned runs. Shawn Griffith pitched two scoreless innings in relief. Chris Henderson extended his streak of hitting safely in every game while Krieger's long ball was his fourth of the season.

Mason got its first-inning runs in an unusual fashion. Henderson drew a one-out walk, Krieger singled and Josh Steinberg reached on a catcher's interference. With the bases loaded, Ryan Soares doubled to make it 3-0.

In the second, Ryan Uphouse singled, Spencer Wiggins was hit by a pitch and Henderson singled to load the bases and Krieger followed with a grand slam and a 7-0 lead. Army's first run came in the third behind a one out single, a ground out and a single to center to make it 7-1.

In the sixth a pair of walks put Black Knights on first and second and a two-out single pulled Army to within five. But Mason countered in the bottom of the inning as Wiggins, Henderson and Krieger all walked and Steinberg's sacrifice fly made it 8-2.

The two teams were set to play a seven-inning game later on Saturday.