May 2, 2010

Box Score

Atlanta, Ga. - The George Mason baseball team suffered its first three-game losing streak of the season when Georgia State's Rob Lind hit an 11th-inning pinch-hit walk-off homer to beat the Patriots, 5-4. Mason was beat 9-2 in the series opener, then gave five runs in the ninth on Saturday to lose 7-6. On Sunday, the Panthers scored in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, then Lind led off the bottom of the 11th with his ninth home run of the season. The loss dropped Mason into a tie with UNCW for fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association.

For the second straight day the Mason pitching staff did an excellent job keeping Georgia State's offense in check. The Panthers entered the weekend tops in the nation in batting average, with a .380 mark, and scoring, at 12.0 runs per game. In the series, the Patriots (27-15, 10-8) held Georgia State (27-17-1, 10-4-1) to just 15 earned runs and 25 hits. On Sunday, Mason had twice as many hits as the Panthers but once again were done in by errors. Mason had entered the weekend tops in the CAA in fielding percentage.

The Patriots took the lead in the third when Jeremy Haas doubled, Brig Tison singled and Nick Allen laid down a sacrifice bunt to make it 1-0. But Tison was picked off second to keep it a close game. In the bottom of the fourth, Bradley Logan reached on an error, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Brandon Williams single. Daniel Blaustein walked later in the inning, went to second when Williams was thrown out trying to steal and scored on a Steve Hammond single to make it 2-1.

In the top of the fifth, Mason tied the game when Tison doubled with two outs and scored on an Allen single to right. Mason then went ahead 3-2 in the sixth when Josh Steinberg hit a two-out double and came home on a Chris Cook single through the right side. But the Panthers tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning when, with two outs, Williams walked, Balustein singled to put runners on the corners and and error allowed Williams to score. In the seventh, Mason got a run when Mark Hill singled and Shane Davis doubled.

But the Panthers got the game-tying run in the eighth when Williams tripled and came home on a Hammond sacrifice fly. The Patriots had the go-ahead run on in the 10th when Davis doubled with one out but a ground out and strike out stranded the run. In the 11th, the Patriots again had a runner on second, this time with two outs, but again the run was stranded.

Freshman Chris O'Grady allowed just four hits and no earned runs in five and two-third innings of work while Darren McLean allowed just one run on two hits in three and one-third innings. Kris Mengle took the loss despite striking out the side in the 10th.

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