May 21, 2010

Box Score

Towson, Md. - The George Mason baseball team saw its hopes of playing in the CAA Tournament end on Friday afternoon as the Patriots lost at Towson, 9-4. Mason cannot finish better than 12-12 in the Colonial Athletic Association and that would leave the Patriots one game out of the fourth and final slot in the tournament. It's just the second time in the past 24 seasons Mason baseball will miss the CAA Tournament.

Towson scored four runs in the first and got a pair of two-run home runs from Kevin Collins to hand Mason its ninth-straight loss. The Tigers (18-35, 10-12), who avoided a school-record 36th loss, had 14 hits while holding Mason to just six. Collins was 4 for 5 with four RBI. No Mason player had multiple hits. Ryan Soares extended his hitting streak to 11 games and Shane Davis had an RBI triple.

The Patriots (27-21, 10-12) took the early lead when Brig Tison reached on a two-base error, took third on a Soares ground out and scored on a Hill sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the first, Nick Natoli, Collins and Chsi Wychock had three straight singles to load the bases and Steve Rice walked to make it 1-1. Kurt Wertz' single made it 2-1, Austin Harclerode hit a sacrifice fly for a two-run lead and Andrew Parker singled to make it 4-1. The Patriots got a run back in the second as Dan Palumbo and Jeremy Haas drew back-to-back four-pitch walks, they advanced on a wild pitch and Danny Lyons grounded out made it 4-2.

In the second, Ben Winter doubled and scored on a Collins' first homer. Mason made it 6-3 in the third when they finally had their first hit. Mark Hill drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored on Davis' triple. Mason made it 6-4 in the fourth when Haas walked, advanced to third on a Nick Allen single and scored on a Tison ground out. Towson added a run in the bottom of the fourth when Natoli, Collins and Wychock hit three straight singles and it stayed 7-4 until the sixth when Winter singled and Collins hit his second homer.

Kevin Crum (5-4) took the loss in the final start of his Mason career. He allowed seven hits and one walk in two innings with six earned runs. Chris O'Grady pitched the final six innings allowing seven hits with three strikeouts and three earned runs. Charlie Cononie (2-0) pitched six innings allowing five hits, five walks and four strikeouts to pick up the win.