April 2, 2010

Box Score

Wilmington, N.C. - All week long, it was questionable whether Kevin Crum would be able to make his scheduled start on Friday at UNC Wilmington. The George Mason senior who was named first-team All-CAA last year took a ball off his pitching shoulder last week and the soreness left it up in the air as to whether he would be on the mound to open the three-game road series. Add to the equation the fact that the last time Crum stood on the rubber at Brooks Field, he ended up in the emergency room after being hit by a batted ball, and there was no telling what to expect from the right-handed hurler.

Turns out that Crum (4-0) had a gem waiting in his right arm. The senior threw seven innings of shutout ball allowing six hits and two walks while striking out three as Mason took the opening game in the three-game series, 2-1. He allowed just one runner to get past second base and during one stretch retired 10 straight batters. Anthony Montefusco pitched a scoreless eighth while A.J. Johnson pitched the ninth to pick up his fifth save despite allowing UNCW's only run. Jeremy Haas, Brig Tison and Ryan Soares were 6 for 14 at the top of the Mason lineup. Tyler McSwain went five and two-third innings for UNCW (14-11, 2-2) allowing two runs, both earned on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Mason (14-8, 2-2) threatened in the first when Tison doubled with one out, went to third on a ground out and Mark Hill was hit by a pitch. But Shane Davis couldn't come up with the two-out hit. The Seahawks put the leadoff man on in the first but he never got past second. The Patriots did the same in the second with a leadoff single but a fielder's choice and a double-play ended the threat before it got started. A one-out single by UNCW in the bottom of the inning proved equally fruitless and after two, it was clear that a pitching duel was in the works.

Mason was the first to find the scoreboard. In the third, Chris Cook walked, Hass singled to put runners on the corners and Soares doubled to make it 1-0. With runners on second and third, McSwain got Hill to strike out and Davis to fly out to end the threat. The Seahawks went in order in the bottom of the third and fourth before threatening in the fifth with a pair of two-out singles by Thomas Pope and Michael Bass to put runners on the corners. But Crum got a first-pitch flyout by Michael Rooney to strand the runners.

The Patriots made it a two-run lead in the sixth. Davis was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and he advanced bases on ground outs by Dan Palumbo and Dan Schafferman. Hendricks singled to make it 2-0 and after Cook singled, McSwain saw his day come to an end. Haas popped out, though, to end the threat.

In the bottom of the sixth, it looked like UNCW might finally get on the board as Grayson Evans singled and Cody Stanley walked with one out but Crum struck out Robbie Monday and got Matt Holt to ground out to keep the shutout alive. In the seventh, Soares doubled and Hill was hit by a pitch to prompt another pitching change and it worked perfectly for UNCW as Davis hit into an inning-ending double play. Crum didn't need the run, though, as he maneuvered around a leadoff single and one-out walk by getting an inning-ending double play of his own in the seventh on the last pitch he would throw.

Montefusco took over for Mason in the eighth and after a leadoff walk to Rhett Miller, he struck out Evans for the first out of the inning. Stanley followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but Montefusco got Monday to ground into a double play to send the game to the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, Johnson got Alex Hill to strike out swinging to lead off but Hill went to first when the ball got away from Hendricks. Hunter Ridge followed with a single and the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Bass' sacrifice fly made it a one-run game but Johnson got Rooney to ground out to end the contest.

The Patriots and Seahawks will continue the series on Saturday with a 4 p.m. start.