May 2, 2009

Fairfax, Va. - The 28th-ranked George Mason baseball team took the first game in a doubleheader with Northeastern on Saturday, as the Patriots beat the Huskies 12-5 behind six RBI from Scott Krieger. For Mason, it was the school-record 24th home win of the year as the Patriots improved to 37-9 on the year. Both the wins and winning percentage are tops in the nation. Northeastern fell to 22-19, 8-9.

Krieger was 3 for 4 with a homer, a double and three runs scored in addition to the six RBI. Justin Bour and Mark Hill each had two hits and three RBI. Mike Modica got the win, improving to 9-1 on the year. He leads the CAA in wins this season and he has the third-most single-season wins in school history. David Gustafson was the only Northeastern player with multiple hits.

The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the second when Gustafson hit a solo homer, Northeastern's first hit of the game. It stayed 1-0 until the bottom of the third when Mason erupted for five runs. With one out, Ryan Uphouse and Spencer Wiggins drew back-to-back walks and Chris Henderson reached to load the bases when his grounder was fielded cleanly by second baseman James Donaldson, but the throw to the base to try to get Wiggins hit the Mason centerfielder in the back. Scott Krieger followed with a two-run single to left and Justin Bour hit a three-run homer over the batter's eye in centerfield to make it 5-1.

Northeastern trimmed the lead in the fourth when Mike Tamsin walked, went to second on an error, took third on an infield hit by Frank Pesanello and scored on a wild pitch. Brendan Stokes' double to right brought home Pesanello to make it a 5-3 game. Mason got a run back in the fifth when Krieger led off with a double, went to third on a Ryan Soares single and scored on a Mark Hill blooper into shallow right.

In the top of the sixth, Northeastern wasted no time cutting into the lead, this time making it a one-run game. James Donaldson led off the inning with a solo homer to left. With one out, Gustafson singled, went to third on a ground out and scored on a Ryan Maguire single to left. Northeastern nearly took the lead when pinch hitter Jeff Dunlap drove the ball deep to right but Uphouse pulled the ball in at the wall to keep it 6-5.

Thanks to Krieger, Northeastern never had a chance to take the lead in its final at-bat. In the bottom of the sixth, Uphouse and Wiggins led off with singles and Henderson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Krieger then took the first pitch from Dan Zehr and blasted it over the wall in left-center to make it 10-5. Bour followed with a single and Soares walked, they advanced on a Shane Davis ground out and scored on a Mark Hill double to center to account for the final runs.

The Patriots and Huskies will conclude the three game series with the second game of a doubleheader beginning at approximately 2 p.m. Mason will play its final home game of the season on Tuesday when the Patriots host Rollins at 3 p.m.