April 5, 2009

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason baseball team completed its first three-game sweep of UNC Wilmington in 10 years and the Patriots extended their school-record for consecutive home wins to 20 as the Patriots beat the Seahawks, 10-8 on Sunday afternoon at Spuhler Field. The Patriots improved to 7-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association and 24-5 on the season while nationally-ranked UNCW fell to 17-10, 5-4. The No. 30 Seahawks have lost seven straight, their longest losing streak since 1998.

Scott Krieger was 3 for 5 with a double, a home run and six RBI. Spencer Wiggins had three hits, two RBI and three runs scored while Chris Henderson and Brent Weiss each had two hits and two runs scored. Grayson Evans was 4 for 4 for UNCW while Cody Stanley was 2 for 4 with four RBI. Ben Reade picked up the win in relief to improve to 3-0 while Jordan Flasher earned his fifth save of the year and pushed his school record for career saves to 23.The eight runs were the most Mason has allowed in a home game all year.

The Seahawks took their first lead of the series in the top of the first when with two outs, Evans singled up the middle, Robbie Monday walked and Bobby Leeper reached on an infield single to load the bases. Stanley singled home Evans but Krieger threw Monday out at the plate to keep it a 1-0 game and end the inning. Mason wasted no time getting the runs back in the bottom of the first.

Wiggins led off with a walk, Henderson singled down the rightfield line to put runners on the corners, and Wiggins scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-1. Krieger followed with his 10th home run of the season, into the teeth of a wind blowing in from right field for a 3-1 lead.

In the top of the second, Mike Rooney lead off with a double and Allen King followed with an RBI single in his first collegiate at-bat to make it 3-2. The Patriots again got the run back in the bottom of the inning, this time as Weiss led off with a double and scored on a Henderson single through the right side. After Henderson went to second on a wild pitch, he scored on a Krieger single through the left side to make it 5-2.

In the third, Evans led off with a double to deep center and Monday followed with a dribbler up the middle to make it 5-3. Stanley followed with a two-run homer to tie the score at 5-5. Mason scrapped together three runs in the bottom of the third as Dan Palumbo and Weiss singled with one out, advanced to third and second respectively on a fly out by Uphouse and Palumbo scored on an infield chopper by Wiggins. After Henderson walked, Krieger drove in Weiss and Wiggins to make it 8-5.

After taking the fourth off, UNCW scored in the fifth as Evans led off with a single, went to third on a Monday single and scored on a Stanley fielder's choice. Stanley stole second and scored on a Rooney single through the left side to make it 8-7. Not surprisingly, Mason answered in the bottom of the inning as Uphouse led off with a double and scored on a Wiggins double down the leftfield line. Wiggins went to third on a Henderson fly ball to deep center and scored on a Krieger ground out to make it 10-7.

In the seventh, Evans led off the inning with his fourth hit, went to second on a Monday walk and took third on Stanley's fielder's choice. He scored to make it 10-8 on a Ryan Brecko balk. The Patriots return to action on Tuesday when they play at George Washington in Arlington at 3 p.m. Mason returns home on Wednesday to host Liberty at 3 p.m.