April 21, 2009

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - Held hitless through three innings, the 27th-ranked George Mason baseball team exploded for 11 runs to defeat local rival George Washington, 11-2, in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon at Spuhler Field.

The Patriots, who improved to 31-7 after taking both games of the season series over the Colonials (17-22), overcame a sluggish start to score in the final five innings and improve to 19-1 this season at home. Mason was voted 27th in the Collegiate Baseball weekly poll on Monday and is receiving votes in a number of other polls.

Led by reigning CAA Player of the Week Scott Krieger, who was 3-for-5 and drove in three runs, Mason's offense belted out 13 hits while holding the Colonial offense to just seven. Chris Henderson joined Krieger in posting a 3-for-5 outing, while Mark Hill and Josh Steinberg each recorded a pair of hits. Sean Rockey led GW, going 3-for-4 at the plate.

Mason starter Ryan Pfaeffle improved to 3-0 as he stymied the GW hitters, scattering seven hits while fanning five Colonials in seven innings of work. Jason Koziol and Jack Zeltner each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Patriots, while Colonials starter Jay Lively fell to 0-2 as he took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in 4.2 innings of work.

Lively kept the Mason bats at bay through three innings and the Colonials took the early lead in the third inning, when Tim Reeves hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field, allowing Will Cooper to score from third.

In the fourth, though, the Patriots came alive as Henderson drove a base hit to left-center field and post the first Mason hit of the game. The second came shortly thereafter, as Krieger took an 0-1 pitch in the very next at bat over the left field fence, giving Mason a 2-1 lead. It was the 15th round-tripper of the season for the senior, who leads the nation among active players in career home runs and runs batted in.

A four-run fifth inning put the game out of reach for GW as Mason posted five hits and forced Lively's exit from the game. The first two Patriot batters reached on singles, and after Ryan Uphouse's sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position, Henderson drove them in two batters later with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Krieger added an RBI double and Justin Bour brought him home with an RBI single up the middle to make the score 6-1 in the Patriots' favor.

Spencer Wiggins hit an RBI fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the sixth inning for Mason's seventh run. A sacrifice fly by GW's Gavin Swanson closed the gap to 7-2, but Mason responded with four unanswered runs to set the final margin.

The Patriots will be back in action when they make the short trip to square off against Maryland on Wednesday evening. First pitch from Shipley Field is set for 7 p.m.