April 10, 2009

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason baseball team won its 22nd-straight home game on Friday afternoon as the nationally-ranked Patriots remained unbeaten at home in 2009, beating Towson 12-0 at Spuhler Field. Mason, which is #25 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and #30 in the NCBWA poll, recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1992, when Mason beat Towson 8-0 and ODU, 2-0. The Patriots are now 27-5 on the year, 8-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The 22 straight is the longest active home winning streak in the nation. Towson fell to 15-15, 3-4.

Kevin Crum (5-2) pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out four. Mark Hill was 3 for 3 with four runs and three RBI, Ryan Uphouse and Scott Krieger each had two hits and two RBI and Justin Bour hit his fourth homer in the past three games.

For the fifth-straight game, Mason put runs on the board in the first inning. After Spencer Wiggins' leadoff single was squandered due to Towson turning a double play, Krieger singled and Bour homered deep to right on the first pitch he saw to make it 2-0. Ryan Soares followed with a single and Hill then hit his first home run of the season, a towering shot to left-center to make it 4-0.

In the second, Ryan Uphouse was hit by a pitch and stole second, Chris Henderson drew a two-out walk and Krieger tripled off the centerfield fence to make it a 6-0 contest. In the third, Gary Helmick reached when he struck out on a pitch in the dirt and Kevin Collins made it first and second with one out when he lined the ball off of Crum. But a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Steve Yarsinsky kept the Tigers off the scoreboard. Towson returned the favor in the fourth when Uphouse doubled, went to third on a wild pitch and Wiggins walked. With no outs and runners on the corners, Henderson fouled out and Krieger hit into a double play to keep it a 6-0 game.

In the fifth, Mason didn't squander its opportunity as Soares doubled, Hill walked and Brent Weiss reached on a single up the middle to load the bases with two outs. Uphouse came through with a single through the left side to make it 8-0. In the sixth, Krieger drew a leadoff walk and with two outs, he scored on Mark Hill's triple to right. Hill came home on a Dan Palumbo infield hit for a double-digit lead.

In the seventh, Henderson, who was the only Mason player without a hit at that point, hit his eighth home run of the season over the fence in center to make it an 11-0 score. In the top of the eighth, Towson got a pair of walks before Palumbo made an excellent stab of a liner at third for the inning's second out. After an infield hit, Palumbo made a good play on Max Kelly's grounder to end the inning and keep the shutout alive. In the bottom of the frame, Hill and Palumbo each walked on four pitches and Weiss reached on an infield single to load the bases with one out. Wiggins drew a two-out walk to make it 12-0.

After averaging 7.1 runs per game in the season's first 28 games with a .308 average, the Patriots have averaged 12.75 runs in their past four games, hitting .394 in those games. Mason and Towson will continue the three-game series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.