May 4, 2010
Box Score
The George Mason baseball team was unable to get back into the win column in its last contest before breaking for final exams as the Patriots fell to Liberty on Tuesday, 16-7 at Spuhler Field. Mason saw its losing streak extended to a season-high four games as the Patriots (27-16) lost to a team fighting for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. Liberty (33-12) has won 20 of its past 24 games and has an RPI among the top 50 in the nation.
The Patriots had a staff day on the mound sending six pitchers to the bump while Liberty got five innings from Keegan Linza (8-0) and four innings from Carter Browning, who picked up his second save. Nathan Thompson was 2 for 3 with three RBI and four runs for Liberty while Mark Hill was 2 for 5 with three RBI for Mason. The Patriots played without two starting position players as catcher Brett Hendricks and shortstop Ryan Soares sat out after being injured at Georgia State over the weekend. Both are expected to return for Mason's next game against VCU on May 14.
Liberty struck for five runs in the second, two in the third and five in the fourth, then added two-run homers in the seventh and eighth. In the second, Matt Williams was hit by a pitch, P.J. Jimenez singled and Thompson walked to load the bases. Michael Robertson hit an RBI single, Ken Negron hit a sacrifice fly and Curran Redal added a second sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. After Doug Bream walked, Tyler Bream doubled and Doug Bream came home on a throwing error to make it 5-0.
The third-inning Liberty runs came when Jimenez singled and Thompson doubled to make it 6-0 and Negron singled to make it a seven-run Liberty lead. The Patriots, who grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out in the second, did manage to score three runs in the third to make it a four-run game. Nick Allen singled to lead off the inning and after Jeremy Haas doubled, Brig Tison followed with a single to make it 7-1. Hill singled to make it 7-2 and after Dan Palumbo was hit by a pitch, Dan Schafferman hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3.
In the fourth, Liberty broke the game open. Justin Richardson and Matt Williams singled and Jimenez hit into a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners with two outs. After Thompson was hit by a pitch, Robertson doubled to make it 9-3. Back-to-back walks by Negron and Redal made it 10-3 and Doug Bream followed with a two-run single to make it 12-3.
In the fifth, the Patriots put a pair on the board as Shane Davis walked, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on a ground out and scored on a Schafferman single. Josh Steinberg and Chris Cook hit back-to-back singles to make it 12-5. The score stayed that way until the seventh when Redal reached on an error and Trey Wimmer followed with a two-run homer. In the eighth, Jimenez singled and Thompson homered to make it 16-5. Mason got two of those runs back in the ninth when Haas doubled and Hill homered to make it 16-7.
Mason returns to action on May 14 when the Patriots host VCU at 3 p.m.
