May 25, 2009
The George Mason baseball team earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Baseball Championships on Monday afternoon and the Patriots will play South Carolina on Friday in an opening round contest. The Patriots, a third seed in the Greenville, N.C. Regional, will play the second-seeded Gamecocks at 3 p.m. East Carolina is the host institution and the No. 1 seed in the regional while Binghamton is the fourth-seed. Live audio for Mason's games in the NCAA Tournament will be available on GoMason.com.
The regional site is a double-elimination four-team event with the winner moving on to a Super Regional the following weekend at a site to be determined. The Patriots will be making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance. They went to the tournament in 1985, 1988, 1992, 1993 and most recently in 2004. Mason is 1-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
In 1985, Mason played in Tallahassee, Fla. and lost to Florida State and Arkansas. In 1988, the Patriots played in Tallahassee, Fla. again this time losing to Florida and Stetson. In 1992, Mason traveled to Gainesville, Fla. and broke through for the first time in the tournament, beating Rider but falling to Georgia Tech and California. In 1993, Mason traveled to Tempe, Ariz. and lost to Arizona State and St. John's. In 2004, the Patriots were close to home, playing in Charlottesville and losing to Vanderbilt and Virginia.
At 42-12, Mason has set a school record for wins and winning percentage. After leading the nation in winning percentage for most of the season, the Patriots currently find themselves second in the nation in that category trailing only Arizona State, which is 44-12. Only seven schools in the country have won more than Mason's 42 games.
The Patriots are 0-6 all-time against South Carolina with the last meeting coming in 2004 at Columbia, S.C., a 5-0 loss. Mason is 30-43 all-time against East Carolina but the teams have not met since ECU left the CAA after the 2001 season. The Patriots and Binghamton have never met.
Mason will play either East Carolina or Binghamton on Saturday at either 2 p.m. or 6 p.m.
