April 11, 2010

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason baseball team scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, rallying from a 7-3 deficit to beat Old Dominion 8-7 and avoid the first three-game sweep at home in nearly four years. The win allowed Mason to improve to 18-11 on the year, 4-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association while ODU fell to 15-21, 4-5. Mason was last swept at home in May of 2006 by Northeastern and ODU has never swept Mason at Spuhler Field.

In the ninth, against reliever Brett Harris, Jeremy Haas got a leadoff double, Ryan Soares a one-out single and Mark Hill a four-pitch walk to load the bases with one out for pinch-hitter Anthony Montefusco. The freshman, who had struck out the side in the top of the ninth, delivered an RBI single to left to make it 7-4. Dan Palumbo, who hit the first homer of his career earlier in the game, followed with a two-run double to left to make it a one-run game. Nick Allen was intentionally walked to load the bases and bring the double play back into order but Josh Steinberg delivered with a game-tying sacrifice fly. Chris Cook followed with a single up the middle, just out of reach of shortstop Chris Buss and Palumbo beat the throw home for the game-ending run.

Palumbo was 2 for 5 with three RBI and two runs, Soares was 3 for 5 with two runs, Haas was 3 for 4 and Cook was 2 for 5. Brig Tison had his 17-game hitting streak snapped. It was tied for the sixth-longest in school history. Chris Boggs dominated Mason for seven and two-third innings, scattering seven hits and one walk while striking out six and allowing two earned runs. Donnie Corsner and John Malbon each had two hits and an RBI for the Monarchs while Kenny Stoneback had two hits and two RBI.

Old Dominion jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first behind a Corsner leadoff double and a two-out Chris Baker double. The Monarchs added to the lead in the second when Josh Wright led off the inning with a double and scored on a Malbon single to center. After a Stoneback one-out single to center moved Malbon to second, the first baseman came home on a Corsner single to center. The ODU lead grew to 5-0 on Edgar Hernandez' double down the leftfield line. That ended Mason starter Kris Mengle's day and brought Chris O'Grady into the game.

The redshirt freshman walked the first batter he faced before retiring eight straight, including four straight by strikeout, to keep ODU scoreless in the third and the fourth. He allowed a walk and single in the fifth but still struck out the side to run his strikeout total to seven. The Patriots were not able to trim into the lead until the fifth, though, as Chris Boggs did not allow a Mason hit in the first three innings and after Soares led off the fourth with a double, Boggs got a fly out, a strikeout and a foul pop to strand Soares. Nick Allen led off the fifth with a single but Brett Hendricks grounded into a double play making Chris Cook's two-out double less impactful. Cook was Mason's first run when he scored on a Haas single up the middle.

In the sixth, O'Grady pitched around a leadoff error and the Patriots made it a three-run deficit when Dan Palumbo hit a two-out solo homer to make it 5-2. But in the eighth, Old Dominion added some meaningful runs off A.J. Johnson as Malbon singled and Stoneback homered to make it 7-2. Mason took advantage of two errors by Wright at second in the eighth. Soares led off with a single and Davis reached on a one-out error when Wright booted the ball. After a Palumbo's fielder's choice put runners on the corners, Wright dropped Allen's pop up, allowing Soares to score for a 7-3 game. Boggs' day ended after he hit pinch-hitter Steinberg to load the bases. Austin Wright came on in relief and he got Cook to pop out to strand the bases loaded. He got a chance to redeem himself in the ninth. The Patriots will return to action on Tuesday when they host Longwood at 3 p.m.