May 18, 2010

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason baseball team played its final home game of the 2010 season and the Patriots were unable to finish on a high note as Mason fell to Georgetown, 7-5 at Spuhler Field in non-conference NCAA baseball action on Tuesday. Mason will return to the field on Friday at Towson at 3 p.m. in the final weekend series of the season. Live audio of that game will be available on GoMason.com.

The Patriots' offense was unable to get on track as Mason scored four of its five runs via the long ball. Josh Steinberg hit a three-run homer in the third to bring home Brig Tison, who was 2 for 5 in the game, and Mark Hill, who was 1 for 3. Shane Davis added a solo homer in the seventh. Mason's other run scored in the fifth when Ryan Soares singled, took second on a Hill single, went to third on a fielder's choice by Davis and scored on a Dan Palumbo sacrifice fly. Steinberg, one of nine Mason seniors, was 3 for 4 with three RBI in his final appearance at home. Hill and Soares were other position players in their final home contest.

Mason rallied from a 2-0 first-inning deficit to take a 3-2 third-inning lead. Later, the Patriots rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth. But the Hoyas went ahead 5-4 in the sixth, 6-4 in the seventh, and after Mason pulled to within a run in the bottom of the inning, the Hoyas added an insurance run in the eighth.

Georgetown (24-28) scored six of its seven runs with two outs. The first two came in the first when Eric Fernandez hit a solo homer then Dan Capeless singled and scored on a Billy Cupelo double. The Hoyas were kept off the board in the second and third but in the fourth, Chip Malt hit a two-out single and Tommy Elliott followed with a double to make it 3-3. Tommy Lee followed with a single to give Georgetown the lead off Mason start Kris Mengle, another one of the Patriot seniors. In the sixth, with the score tied 4-4, Lee doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out double by Fernandez to make it 5-4. In the seventh, Sean Lamont singled with one out, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Elliott.

The final Georgetown run came in the eighth off Mason senior Jack Zeltner as Lee singled, Rand Ravnaas doubled and Fernandez' ground out made it 7-5. Fernandez was 2 for 4 with three RBI, Lee was 3 for 5 with a steal and Lamont had three hits as well.

The Patriots (27-20) and Hoyas played five times in 2010 with Georgetown winning three of the five games. Mason is currently on an eight-game losing streak. Prior to this stretch, the Patriots had not lost more than two straight all year. The school record for consecutive losses is 11, set in the final two games of 1989 and the first nine of 1990. Those record for consecutive losses in a single season is nine, when Mason opened that 1990 season 0-9 before finishing 28-30.