March 28, 2010

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason baseball team scored a combined 27 runs in the first two games of its three-game series with James Madison but the Patriot offense was stymied on Sunday in the rubber match with the Dukes as JMU handed Mason a 14-2 defeat at Spuhler Field. The Dukes are now 11-11 on the year, 4-2 in CAA play while Mason is 12-7, 1-2. The 12-run deficit is the largest margin of defeat for the Patriots this year and the two runs is the fewest they have scored in their 19 games.

Turner Phelps had a terrific outing for James Madison to improve to 2-3 on the year. He allowed seven hits and four walks but just two earned runs in six innings while striking out five. David Herbeck was 4 for 6 with two runs and two RBI for the Dukes while Jake Lowery was 2 for 5 with three RBI and two runs scored. McKinnon Langston added three hits. Mark Hill, who had a 14-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday, had two hits, the only Mason player with multiple hits.

The Dukes scored four first-inning runs despite only two well-hit balls. Johnny Bladel led off with a double off the wall in the rightfield corner and after Matt Browning walked, the pair scored when Herbeck laced a double into the leftfield corner. Herbeck scored on a two-out bloop double off the bat of Lowery that fell in shallow right-center and Lowery came home when Langston dropped a ball 200 feet from home in front of Shane Davis in right.

In the bottom of the first, Mason had a chance to get a run back with Brig Tison on second with two outs, but Mike Fabiaschi made a diving play on a Hill single up the middle, keeping the ball in the infield and Tison at third. The run was stranded there when Shane Davis grounded to short. The Dukes made Mason pay as Bladel singled to lead off the second, Browning followed with a walk, Herbeck singled to load the bases and Townsend brought Bladel home on a sacrifice fly. Mason scored its first run in the bottom of the second, without a single hit. Walks by Anthony Montefusco, Dan Palumbo, Jeremy Haas and Brig Tison made it a 5-1 game before Ryan Soares struck out leaving the bases loaded.

The Dukes got the run back and then some in the third when Fabiaschi tripled and scored on a Cole McInturff single. McInturff stole second and scored from there on a slow-rolling ground out to first. The Dukes put two more on the board in the fifth as Langston singled, Fabiaschi was hit by a pitch and the runners scored when McInturff's sacrifice bunt was misplayed by catcher Brett Hendricks and his throw went into rightfield. That made it a 9-1 contest.

In the bottom of the fifth, Mason rallied with four two-out singles as Soares and Hill got hits and Soares scored on a Davis single. Montefusco followed with a hit up the middle that Herbeck fielded deep in the hole at short, keeping the ball in the infield and saving a run. Nick Allen grounded out to end the threat and keep it a 9-2 game.

It didn't stay a seven-run deficit for long as in the sixth, Herbeck singled and scored on a Townsend double. Townsend came home on a Lowery single and after Langston singled to send Lowery to third, he scored on a Fabiaschi sacrifice fly to make it 12-2. In the seventh, JMU loaded the bases on hits by Knight and Browning and a walk by Townsend. Lowery hit into a fielder's choice that allowed a run to score and when pitcher Brandon Bartlett dropped the ball at first as Mason tried to turn a double play, Browning scored to make it 14-2.

The Patriots return to action on Tuesday when they play at Liberty at 3 p.m.