April 20, 2010
The George Mason baseball team plays just one mid-week contest this week but it's against the best team they are likely to face all year as the Patriots travel to Charlottesville to take on Virginia on Wednesday in the first meeting between the teams since 2007. The Cavaliers, coming off to a trip to the College World Series last year, are nationally ranked in the top 10 of every major poll and they have been ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation. They are currently No. 2 in Baseball America's Top 25. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Both Mason and Virginia carry some impressive offensive statistics into the contest. The Cavaliers are top 30 in the nation in runs (29th), hits (15th), batting average (27th), doubles (20th) and triples (2nd). The Patriots are 14th in scoring, 40th in hits, 41st in batting average, third in sacrifice flies and ninth in hit by pitch. But while Mason is among the 75th percentile in ERA with a 4.75 mark, Virginia is in the 90th percentile with a 3.87 ERA.
Virginia (29-9) has lost just four games at home this season and only one to a non-conference opponent. On March 5 they lost to Wright State, 2-1. Common opponents this season are George Washington, James Madison and Radford. The Cavaliers beat GW, 5-2, Radford, 12-2 and the Dukes, 9-4 in Charlottesville and 6-3 at Harrisonburg. Mason beat GW twice, 10-9 in 10 innings in Fairfax and 20-6 in Arlington and took a 9-5 win at Radford. Mason dropped two of three at home to James Madison, losing to the Dukes 21-16 and 14-2 and beating them 11-6.
The Cavaliers have been led at the plate by Keith Werman, younger brother of Mason assistant coach and former UVa standout Kyle Werman. This season, Keith Werman is batting .447 with a .532 on-base percentage and he has more stolen bases (eight) than strikeouts (six). Phil Gosselin is batting .392 with 31 RBI, 41 runs scored and 12 steals while Steven Proscia is hitting .315 with 37 RBI and seven steals. The Cavaliers are 59 of 76 on the base paths this season and they are batting .337 as a team.
Mason (23-11) was batting .337 as a team a week ago but after facing excellent pitching at Northeastern last weekend, the Patriots saw their team batting average fall to .327. The Patriots are led by one of the nation's top shortstops in Ryan Soares. The senior is fifth in the nation in RBI per game and doubles per game and he leads the country in sacrifice flies. Soares is batting .416 with six homers, 19 doubles, 52 RBI, 37 runs scored and 10 sacrifice flies, and he has committed just four errors all year. Dan Palumbo is batting .423 while Mark Hill is hitting .406 with a .518 on-base percentage. Brig Tison is batting .393 and he has struck out just eight times while going 10 of 11 on the base paths.
Mason is 10-4 on the road this season and enters the Virginia game having won six-straight overall and five-straight on the road. Mason last lost on the road on April 4 at UNC Wilmington, 5-4. Since falling at Winthrop 11-4 in the season-opening weekend, Mason has not lost a road game by more than two runs. The Patriots' last game against the Cavaliers was at Davenport Field, a 17-6 Virginia win. Kris Mengle made his first career start in that game. The senior is scheduled to start for Mason on Wednesday. The Patriots have lost the past four meetings since beating Virginia in Charlottesville 4-3 in 2003. This is the first game for the Patriots this year against a ranked opponent. In each of the past three seasons, Mason has at least one win over a ranked opponent.
