March 22, 2010
The George Mason baseball team will put its six-game winning streak on the line on Tuesday, weather permitting, as the Patriots host the Spiders at Spuhler Field at 3 p.m. Mason's last loss came at Richmond, a 6-4 defeat when the Spiders scored runs in the seventh and eighth to break a 4-4 tie.
Mason has played at Spuhler Field just three times this year, sweeping Duquesne over the weekend. Before that, Mason beat Georgetown, 4-1, Longwood, 17-5, and Radford, 9-5. The winning streak has pushed Mason to 10-4 on the season, the best winning percentage in the CAA. Two of those losses have come in extra innings.
Mark Hill and Ryan Soares have been the big bats in the Mason lineup this season. Hill leads the CAA with a .558 batting average to go with three homers and 13 RBI. Soares is batting .446 with four homer, 24 RBI and 19 runs scored. As a team, Mason is batting .340 on the year. The Patriots have a 4.16 staff ERA and during the winning streak, the bullpen has been exceptional.
Mason relievers have a 3.58 ERA and three saves over the past six games with just 20 hits allowed in 27.2 innings of work. A.J. Johnson has emerged as the team's closer as he has four saves in six appearances, having allowed just two hits, four walks and no earned runs in seven innings of work. Nick Kendrick is slated to make his second career start and his first appearance in more than a month. He previously started at Winthrop on Feb. 20 allowing four earned runs in three innings in an 11-4 loss.
Richmond is 10-8 on the year with a .310 batting average. Six regulars are batting .335 or better led by Billy Barber, who is hitting .400 with four homers, 22 RBI, 22 runs and eight steals in nine attempts. Chris Cowell is also has four homers and 22 RBI while batting .364. The Spiders have a 5.53 staff ERA but the opposition is batting just .277. Matt Trent is expected to start for the Spiders. He is 0-2 with an 11.40 ERA and he has given up 20 runs in 15 innings on 21 hits and 11 walks. The opposition is batting .328 against him.
