March 8, 2009

Box Score

The George Mason baseball team completed a series sweep of Army on Sunday afternoon as the Patriots beat the Black Knights, 8-6 at Spuhler Field. Mason had to rally from a three-run deficit but strong relief pitching and some clutch hitting lifted the Patriots to 7-3 on the year.

Brent Weiss was 3 for 4 with three RBI while Justin Bour had three hits and Ryan Soares, Spencer Wiggins and Chris Henderson all had two hits. As a team, Mason had 17 hits while the Black Knights had nine, but just after the third inning.

Army (2-4) struck before there was an out in the game as a walk and a home run gave the Black Knights a 2-0 lead. Mason tied the score in the second as Ryan Soares and Shane Davis singled to put runners on the corners and Brent Weiss' bunt single made it 2-1. Spencer Wiggins' RBI single evened the score. Army retook the lead in the third, this time scoring three runs.

A single, a sacrifice bunt and two singles made it 4-2 and a steal and a double put the Black Knights ahead by three. The Patriots cut into the lead in the third, as a Bour single, a Davis double and a Mark Hill walk loaded the bases and Weiss singled up the middle to make it 5-4. In the fourth, the Patriots retook the lead as Henderson led off the inning with a home run and with one out Justin Bour doubled and came home on a Soares singled to left.

Army tied the score in the top of the fifth as the leadoff batter reached on an error, went to second on a single, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on a passed ball. In the sixth, Mason broke the tie as Scott Krieger led off with a single and scored on a Bour double. A deep fly moved Bour to third and he scored on a Davis sacrifice fly.

Dan Gerjets struggled in his second-straight start allowing five runs on seven hits in two and two-third innings. Kris Mengle allowed one unearned run on two hits in two and two-third innings. Jason Koziol (1-0) picked up the win, in pitching one and two-third scoreless innings. Shawn Griffith pitched a perfect eight and Ryan Brecko pitched the perfect ninth for his third save of the season.

The Patriots return to action on Tuesday when they play at North Carolina State at 3 p.m. Mason's next home game will be on Friday, the start of a three-game series with Lehigh, with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m.